Argentinian Field Hospital ceases operations, celebrates 13 years of service to MINUSTAH
UN MILITARY COMPONENT - HAITI·
SÁBADO, 19 DE AGOSTO DE 2017
By Maj. Tristan Hinderliter, MINUSTAH Military Public Information Office
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – MINUSTAH’s Argentinian Field Hospital, the mission’s primary medical provider since the unit joined the coalition in 2004, ceased operations on Aug. 15, ending 13 years of peacekeeping in this Caribbean country.
The hospital’s closure is part of the military component drawdown, which will be completed by Oct. 15, the date the U.N. Security Council established as the end of the peacekeeping mission here.
Over the years the hospital has treated more than 200,000 patients and participated in dozens of aeromedical evacuations. Hospital personnel also conducted extensive community outreach activities, particularly at local schools and orphanages.
MINUSTAH commemorated the hospital’s cease of operations with a ceremony on Aug. 18 attended by several dignitaries, including Alejandro Escobal, the ambassador of Argentina to Haiti, and Djibril Ly, the mission’s Rule of Law director and acting Special Representative of the Secretary General.
“Your work, at this final stage of the mission, contributes to the efforts of MINUSTAH to maintain a secure environment that will facilitate a smooth transition from MINUSTAH to MINUJUSTH, and ensure the continuation of the democratic stabilization process without interruption,” Ly told the troops in formation.
“We thank you and your colleagues of the 24 contingents that preceded you for the quality of service that you have provided to MINUSTAH, and hence to Haiti,” he added. “Health is one of the fundamental bases of the civilization, together with education, labor, justice and security.”
The role of the hospital has been to provide Level II care to all UN personnel, as well as to the Haitian population in case of emergencies and catastrophes. After the devastating earthquake of January 2010, the Argentinian Field Hospital provided life-saving care to the many injured personnel on the MINUSTAH staff and were also first responders to numerous Haitians in need of urgent medical care.
More recently, following Hurricane Matthew in October 2016, the hospital took immediate action to send a 20-person team to Jérémie, in the hard-hit Grand’Anse department, to support mission personnel and to conduct local medical outreach.
Nearly 1,000 Argentinian troops have served in the mission over the years. The final 66 troops serving in this last rotation, the 25th from Argentina, will depart in the coming weeks.
Although all foreign military forces will leave Haiti by Oct. 15, a UN mission will remain in the country. MINUSTAH will be succeeded by the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti. MINUJUSTH will seek to build on the success of MINUSTAH and will focus on helping the government of Haiti strengthen rule-of-law institutions, develop and support the Haitian National Police, and conduct human rights monitoring and reporting.
Argentinian troops stand in formation at the unit’s cease of operations ceremony, Aug. 18, 2017. (Photo by Benoit Martin, UN Police Component PIO)
The MINUSTAH Force Commander, Lt Gen Ajax Porto Pinheiro, addresses troops at the Argentinian Field Hospital cease of operations ceremony, Aug. 18, 2017. (Photo by Benoit Martin, UN Police Component PIO)
Argentinian troops lower the UN flag during their cease of operations ceremony Aug. 18, 2017. (Photo by Benoit Martin, UN Police Component PIO)
Djibril Ly, the mission’s Rule of Law director and acting Special Representative of the Secretary General, presents a UN service medal to the Argentinian Field Hospital Commander, Col. Fernando Correa, during the unit's cease of operations ceremony, Aug. 18, 2017. (Photo by Benoit Martin, UN Police Component PIO)