Hospitals of Hope - Clinic in a Can

Clinic in a Can! Could it be possible?

Clinic in a can? “Whatever do you mean” you might be asking. Hospitals of Hope has been approached by many foreign nationals asking if we would consider building a clinic or hospital in their country. One request that launched the idea of clinic in a can came from a Kenyan man back in 2002. He shared how his sister had died on the way to the hospital during her first pregnancy. She had come home to have her first baby as is customary in Kenya. While home, she began running a fever and the family decided to take her to the nearest hospital ten miles away. Taking their only method of transportation, the family took turns pushing and pulling their ailing relative in a wheelbarrow. Somewhere between her village and the hospital, she died.

With this image burned in my mind, I began thinking of a way that Hospitals of Hope could make a small but lasting impact in the lives of others around the world. That is when the idea for clinic in a can came to mind. Converting a semi-trailer or shipping container into a transportable, self-contained medical/dental clinic that could be built in Wichita, Kansas and then shipped anywhere in the world. I wrote about this idea for the clinic in a can in our 2002 newsletter and a couple weeks latter I was approached by Jean Eustache. Some of you may have read about Jean Eustache in the March 7, 2004 Wichita Eagle Article titled “Living an Impressive Life, Inside and Out”. Jean asked if Hospitals of Hope would consider building our first clinic in a can for Haiti if he would help come up with the resources needed. Our answer was “yes”.

Kyle Stevens and Myron Smith headed up this daunting task and after two years of design and one year of construction, our first clinic in a can has been completed. The clinic in a can was constructed within a forty-eight foot semi-trailer donated by the Love Box Company. The trailer is a mobile, (or can be stationary) self-contained clinic with a medical exam room, dental operatory suite, laboratory and storage room. A diesel generator provides power for all the electrical equipment which provides water, compressed air and suction for all the clinic rooms