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Powering Health

Electrification Options for Developing Country Health Facilities

Training health facility workers in Haiti

A man standing in the front of a room presents information projected on a screen. The information indicates the two types of electrical current.

USAID specialists present information on electrification to health facility engineers at the training facility in Jacmel, Haiti. (Photo: Jeff Haeni)

JACMEL, HAITI - USAID conducted a training course focused on improving energy services to support laboratory infrastructure at local health facilities.

The two week training course held in May 2008 was sponsored by the USG PEPFAR program and the Haiti National Reference Laboratory. The training was targeted at health facility managers and laboratory specialists and the agenda covered options for providing health facilities with continuous and high quality power needed for effective operation.

Retrofitted electrification equipment installed by students during the USAID training of health facility workers in Jacmel, Haiti.

Retrofitted electrification equipment installed by students during the USAID training of health facility workers in Jacmel, Haiti. (Photo: Jeff Haeni)

The first week of training covered key concepts and design issues while the second week focused on hands-on application of the material as the class retrofitted a health facility. The training course manual covered the design, installation, and operation of back-up power systems (inverters, batteries, generators, power conditioners and solar). Several trainees and private sector energy service providers made presentations throughout the training course.

A group of Hatian health care workers pose with USAID trainers at a seminar in Jacmel, Haiti.

Several health facility managers and laboratory specialists participated in the USAID training in Jacmel, Haiti sponsored by USG PEPFAR and the Haiti National Reference Laboratory. (Photo: Jeff Haeni)

During the second week of training, students designed and installed an energy system for a nearby health facility. The students designed a system which provided continuous, high quality power to laboratory equipment and other critical loads even though the hospital only received about two hours of grid power per day. Students trained the health facility manager on the operation and basic maintenance of the system and a contract was signed with a local service provider to maintain the energy systems.

For more information, contact USAID’s Energy Team.


Haiti training materials

Haiti Training Materials

In a country-wide assessment completed in October of 2007, SunEnergy Power International and the Energy Team of USAID recommended that the next step for Haiti was to increase their in-country capabilities for proper installation of inverter / battery systems, and provided this training in May, 2008.