Over the past twelve years PHH has collaborated with the following Partners:
Nassau Community College
Carmelle Bellefleur has been at Nassau Community College, Nursing Department from 1990 to the present. Her colleagues have provided guidance, support, funds, and materials (books) for the program. The college has provided multi-medias accesses including Zoom and Black Board. In addition, English professors and Nursing professors were the first to teach in the program.
Direction des Soins Infirmiers (DSI) La DSI
This partnership was developed in 2010 under the leadership of Mrs. Irma Bois. Mrs. Bois has been a consultant of PHH. PHH wanted to develop nurse educators for the schools of nursing. Mrs. Bois insisted that Regis College of Massachusetts is developing nurse educators and that what she needs from PHH is nurse practitioners. She said, “My nurses are already working as nurse practitioners without the training, but now PHH could give them the training.” Ever since 2015 when Haiti State University signed the MOU with PHH, la DSI has been recruiting licensed nurses to enroll in the program. Mrs. Bois added, “I know where the nurse practitioners are needed the most.”
Association Nationale des Infirmieres Lisenciees D’Haiti (ANILH)
ANILH has begun the process of establishing legislations to regulate the profession. They offer advocacy, guidance, and support to members. They provide continuing education and promote quality nursing care to the population.
Hunter College
Founded in 1870 as one of the oldest schools within the City University of New York (CUNY). Currently, over 22,000 students attend Hunter, pursuing both undergraduate and graduate degrees in more than 170 different programs of study. Hunter College School of Nursing is located on the Brookdale Campus which houses the School of Nursing and the School of Health Sciences. It provides undergraduate and master’s level nursing education to a diverse student body. Many faculty also teach in the nursing doctoral program located at the CUNY Graduate Center.
On April 14-15, 2011, the Hunter team hosted a conference, Partnerships to Enhance Nursing Education in Haiti. Fifteen Haitian nurse leaders and physicians attended the conference. They included directors of private and public schools of nursing. The purpose of the conference was to bring together representatives of North American schools of nursing, and nursing leaders from Haiti for the first time. That conference served as a starting point to begin serious, detailed, collaborative discussions about enhancing nursing education in Haiti. The meeting was launched with a series of informative presentations that provided a common ground for participants and identified key activities and goals of the presenting schools and organizations. This conference was funded through the generosity of Fondasyon Konesans Ak Libète (FOKAL) and Projet d’Appui au Systeme de Sante (PADESS).
At the conference there was also general agreement that nursing needs to be recognized as a profession in Haiti, with academic degrees (BSN and MSN) granted by the University of Haiti. Several themes emerged from the conference: 1) the University of Haiti should have a faculty/department of nursing; 2) nursing education should fall under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, so that nurses can obtain a baccalaureate degree level education and graduate with a bachelor’s degree; 3) The Ministry of Health will continue to license nurses as specified by the law. Nursing faculty must be educated in the field of nursing pedagogy in a master’s degree program, so they will be able to teach in a Baccalaureate program.
Haiti is in a developmental crisis that involves employment, housing, access to food and clean water, and health care. These issues are all intertwined, but health underlies all of them. Eighty-seven percent of the health care in Haiti is delivered by nurses; but currently nurses do not have the training they need to provide that care. The purpose of this co-operative endeavor between Hunter College of the City University of New York, the Haitian Ministry of Health and Population (MSPP), and the University d’Etat of Haiti (UEH) is to develop a Faculty of Nursing Sciences to augment nursing education to better meet the needs of the people of Haiti.
CUNY
Established in 1961 as the third largest public university system in the United States. It consists of 23 colleges and professional schools and serves more than 260,000 degree-credit students annually. CUNY has a long history of teaching students from developing countries. Its student body reflects the diversity of New York City, which has a large and vibrant Haitian community. Each year, CUNY enrolls over 6,000 students of Haitian descent in a wide range of disciplines.
Episcopal University
In 2012, PHH signed a partnership agreement with Episcopal University to house the Nurse Practitioner program at the Faculty des Sciences Infirmieres at Leogane (FSIL). The role of the university was to supervise the program and to confer the master’s degree to the candidates upon graduation. In 2013, the PHH launched the Nurse Practitioner Program (Advanced Practice Nurses) at Leogane, Haiti with Episcopal University.
Adelphi University, Alpha Omega Chapter (AOC) of Sigma Theta Tau International.
This chapter of the Nursing Honor Society has adopted PHH for years and provided books and funds to transport the books to Haiti to create the first library for nursing in the country. They have provided support and guidance to PHH since its inception. In 2022, AOC continues to support the good work of PHH through a donation of $1000. In 2019, support continued through a similar donation, leading towards the Chapter securing the Sigma Global Advisory Panel on the Future of Nursing (GAPFON) award through our collaboration. They have placed a link on their website, reminding their membership to support PHH. For more information, visit:
Early on, one of the Adelphi University professors, Patricia Facquet, upon learning that Dr. Bellefleur was part of the not-for-profit Promoting Health in Haiti created to improve health care access to Haitian citizens, she endorses PHH at every possible opportunity. She challenged AOC’s Board to Adopt-A-Nurse for Haiti and the chapter has since adopted three nurses, $5000 each for this endeavor. In addition, to the AOC’s generous donation, Prof. Facquet lobbied the Allied Health Faculty at Adelphi University to donate books for the program that were used to create the first nursing library in the country. In October 2013, at the AOC’s Founder’s Day event that took place at Molloy College where Dr. Suzanne S. Prevost, President of STTI, was the guest speaker, Prof. Facquet boldly challenged the STTI President to not forget Haiti in STTI’s global initiatives. Thus, in November 2013, Dr. Prevost, in her presidential address, highlighted the health issues confronting Haiti and urged over 20,000 members in attendance not to forget Haiti in its struggle. Her theme was “Give back to the less fortunate in order to move forward.”
Alpha Phi, Chapter of the Sigma Theta Tau International
The Nursing Honor Society has also supported PHH. They have recognized the tremendous efforts by Dr. Bellefleur and elected her as the woman of the year among the movers and the shakers. Dr. Bellefleur has been posted on the Hall of Fame of Hunter College Lobby located at 695 Park Avenue, New York City, NY 10065. Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools.
American Nurses Association (ANA)
PHH has also established partnership and collaboration with PHH in 2013 to support the Nurse Practitioner Program. The collaboration has brought materials and funds to PHH to support the nurse practitioner program. With more than 240,000 members nationwide and 37,000 members in New York State New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). NYSNA is the largest union and association for registered nurses in New York.
Molloy College now Molloy University School of Nursing
Began collaboration with PHH in 2013. Faculty from Molloy University have signed a partnership agreement with PHH to be responsible to teach the PHH RN-BSN program. Faculty have travelled to Haiti to teach the program face to face on their own even when there were no one of Haitian descent to accompany them despite the instability and the challenges Haiti faces every day.
> More Partnerships
In 2014, PHH signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Haiti Ministry of Health and Population. In 2015, PHH was able to fulfill its goal of implementing the program in the public sector, at Haiti State University (UEH) in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Population (MSPP). The Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) is the executive body responsible for the formulation and implementation of the National Public Health Policy in Haiti. Their singular mission is to guarantee to all Haitians, without distinction, the right to life and health and to provide them with the appropriate means for the protection, maintenance, and restoration of their health.
In 2015, PHH signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Haiti State University (UEH). The State University of Haiti (UEH) was established in the 1920s. It is the largest institution of higher education and research in the country. The University brings together more than 35,000 students, 1,500 professors, some twenty faculties and institutes devoted to teaching and research. Recently, the University partnered with Promoting Health in Haiti (PHH) to develop nurse practitioners in the country.
In 2018, PHH signed a partnership agreement with Lumiere University to send their licensed nurses, especially the faculty who are teaching at Lumiere University across six school of nursing, to the nurse practitioner program for their degree. Seven University Lumiere nurses graduated from the program in November 2021. Four Lumiere University nurses are currently in the nurse practitioner program. This partnership will help Lumiere University develop capacity by having more competent nurse educators, thereby improving health care access.
Finally, PHH in 2018 developed partnership agreements with hospital partners including Hospital Bienfaisance de Pignon, Hospital Universitaqire de Mirebalais, Health Equity International formerly known as St Boniface and Centre Psychiatrie de Beudet to allow students to do their internship training.
In 2020, PHH began collaboration with the Sustainable Village and Learning Community (SVLC)- The purpose of this co-operative endeavor between the Sustainable Village Learning Community (SVLC) and Promoting Health in Haiti (PHH) is to develop the system for advanced practice nurses to provide much needed health care in the local clinics, the health care centers and the hospitals. In January 2022, PHH will begin the process of hiring nurse practitioners to enter the system and begin to provide primary care in the Arcahaie region. PHH has not only prepared the nurse practitioners to provide services but has also created the framework for sustainability by educating the nurse practitioners at the master’s degree level so they could teach and develop more nurse practitioners going forward. To supplement this effort, PHH has also collaborated with Downstate University in New York for two of our nurse practitioners to pursue a doctoral degree beginning fall 2020. (Currently only one student in the program; one student left the program for personal reasons)
Promoting Health in Haiti (PHH) in partnership with the Sustainable Village and Learning Community (SVLC) in Arcahaie has obtained funding W. K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) to continue the Nurse Practitioner program that aims to provide primary health care for the citizen of Haiti. These Nurse Practitioners utilize the scientific process and US national standards of care as a framework for managing patient care including prenatal care for pregnant women, and care for newborns, emergency care, adults, pediatric patients, prescribing treatments and medications, and essential health education. With these skills, nurse practitioners have a direct impact on the health of the Haitian population, most notably reducing the high rates of maternal and infant mortality, improving the currently low levels of immunization, and addressing other health issues such as the prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and infectious diseases.
In March 2022, PHH had several meetings with Sheryl Martin, USAID, Health Service Delivery Team. She shared 3 Ministry of Health and Population documents : Plan Directeur de Sante 2021-2031, Plan Strategic de Sante Communautaire 2020-2030 and Document Cadre des Unites d’Arrondissement de Sante, June 2021. These documents have identified primary health care as being “the most complete, effective and economically rational approach to improving the physical and mental health of populations, as well as their social well-being, and that primary health care is the cornerstone of a sustainable health system in the context of universal health coverage (UHC) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to health”. This precept has solidified PHH’s vision to create nurse practitioners to provide primary care in the communities.
On May 25, 2022, PHH signed a MOU with the Haitian American Nurses Association International (HANA-I). With over 600 active members, HANA will lead the way in helping to teach the program. Many HANA members have advanced degrees and will be able to teach in the program. Fifteen HANA members have already signed up to teach in the program. Having faculty that can teach in French, Creole and English will enrich the program and facilitate learning.
On August 22, 2022, PHH met with Dr. Jane Drichta, Executive Director of Midwives for Haiti. Midwives for Haiti has agreed to partner with PHH and to collaborate on the nurse-midwife program. A MOU is being developed to honor this partnership. The MOU will be executed by the end of September, 2022.
Finally, Dr. Marcus Tye, Dean of Lienhard School of Nursing, Pace University has pledged on August 26, 2022, via an email to continue the collaboration with PHH, to allow Pace University, School of Nursing faculty to teach in the program. It is his hope that the new Global Health Equity program will provide additional opportunities for collaboration in the coming years”.