2023
Annual Report
Build Health International
A Note from Leadership
When Build Health International began back in 2010, we were a team of ten people, most traveling between Massachusetts and Haiti. Each of us were working to design and build infrastructure that was fit for the community, functional, and dignified.
Under the “get-it-done” leadership of BHI co-founders, Jim Ansara and Dr. David Walton, one project in Haiti has grown to more than 200 projects spanning four continents and over 50 countries. Ten people have become a team of over 120 talented and dedicated individuals, each of whom brings a critical lens and set of skills to our work.
We are architects, engineers, project managers, global health leaders, clinicians, and operations experts.
We originate from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the United States, and many more locations.
Ten years after the opening of Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais in Haiti, it is time for BHI to think critically about our goals and the future ahead. Earlier this year, we began a comprehensive strategic planning process. Team members, leadership, and the Board of Directors have joined together to provide contributions that shape the organization’s mission, goals, and actions which will be finalized in the coming months.
This year’s report is a reflection of our beginnings, transformations, and features that represent hope and health. We hope that you are inspired by them as we are every day.
In partnership,
The BHI Leadership Team
Eric Buckley, Director of Oxygen Engineering
Gerard Georges, Director of Architecture
Jim Ansara, Co-Founder and Managing Director
Laura Roaen, Human Resources Specialist and Office Manager
Omar Hernandez, Deputy Director of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction
Sarah Sceery, Deputy Director of Partnerships and Administration
YEAR IN REVIEW
JULY 2022
Working in partnership with Health Equity International and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, BHI delivers a shipment of solar panels, inverters, oxygen compressors, and other materials to Fond-des-Blancs, Haiti. All materials will help build a new solar-powered oxygen plant at St. Boniface Hospital.
AUGUST 2022
BHI co-founder Dr. David Walton is appointed U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator by President Biden as part of the President’s Malaria Initiative, leading the efforts to prevent 1.2 million malaria deaths per year.
SEPTEMBER 2022
BHI’s Medical Oxygen team grows from eight to 25 biomedical engineers and global health experts. The team connects for the first time together in person in Kigali, Rwanda to outline priorities for oxygen in the coming year.
OCTOBER 2022
BHI hires and trains over seventy five local Sierra Leonean staff, of whom 65% are women, to support building efforts at the Maternal Center of Excellence (MCOE) in Kono, Sierra Leone.
NOVEMBER 2022
BHI is selected to participate in the Solutions Storytelling Project (SSP), a filmmaking initiative funded by the Skoll Foundation, to raise awareness around engineering and training initiatives in East Africa.
DECEMBER 2022
In partnership with Mercy Ships, BHI issues construction documents and begins building the new Dental School Clinical Training Facility at Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry, Guinea.
JANUARY 2023
BHI releases its first report on Medical Oxygen Milestones, including unlocking 1.2 million cubic meters of oxygen to enable oxygen access for over 30,000 patients worldwide.
FEBRUARY 2023
Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio visits the site of the MCOE, showing his commitment to reduce maternal mortality in the country.
MARCH 2023
Thanks to the training and support efforts of Autodesk and their partners such as Symetri, BHI begins utilizing Autodesk Construction Cloud licenses for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design and documentation for the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID).
APRIL 2023
BHI’s first project, the Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, turns ten years old, celebrating a decade of serving thousands of patients with critical, affordable, and high-quality care.
MAY 2023
BHI is named member of the Global Oxygen Alliance (GO2AL) as part of the World Health Assembly’s Access to Medical Oxygen Resolution.
JUNE 2023
BHI finalizes its Healthcare Planning Guidelines, a roadmap for planners, designers, and partners on designing healthcare facilities with clinical, functional space, and schematic design considerations.
Strategic Planning and Metrics
Our Goal
BHI’s mission is to improve access to and build capacity for dignified, affordable, and high-quality healthcare infrastructure in resource-constrained settings around the world.
Our Mission
BHI’s goal is to increase equitable healthcare coverage and access for the most marginalized population, and to empower partners around the world with the resources and facilities necessary to deliver high-quality services to the patients they serve.
Fiscal Year 2023 Metrics
Who We Are
Theogene Ngirinshuti | Global Health Manager
“BHI does not come with solutions. It comes to find solutions together with our partners. We have experts but we believe that the communities that we serve are experts in their own contexts.”
When Theogene Ngirinshuti joined BHI in July 2022, he had just graduated from Harvard Medical School with a master's degree in Medical Science in Global Health Delivery. In the year since, Theo has wasted no time in applying his expertise in global health equity. As BHI’s Global Health Program Manager, Theo has traveled to over a dozen low- and middle-income countries to train biomedical engineers and meet with Ministries of Health — all in the pursuit of expanding accessible, equitable, and reliable access to medical oxygen.
While Theo brings a wealth of knowledge to his role, his primary goal in every oxygen visit is to learn with and from the oxygen technicians whom he helps train. “The focus really is to make sure that whenever we are going, we try to work together, " Theo shares. “We are not going there as the beholder of knowledge, but rather as collaborators, as people who have expertise and who are very willing to listen to what people need, and then respond to their needs.”
By meeting local governments and technicians where they are, Theo and the BHI team have accelerated culturally-informed, and tangible, oxygen training efforts in 19 countries and counting. “What BHI is doing is life-changing — it’s life-saving,” says Theo. “We have gone to different countries where they had an oxygen PSA plant, but they did not know how to operate it or how to fix small problems. And then BHI went there and worked on it. Some people may think it’s a miracle or magic, but after the training oxygen started flowing to the PSA plants.”
Hawa Baryoh | Quality Control Manager
"Before coming to BHI, I didn’t talk a lot and was very shy. I’ve learned how to communicate, and now that I’m a leader, this skill has helped me out a lot."
Before she joined Build Health International in September 2022, Hawa was selling popcorn on the street. She earned about 10 Leones, or roughly, 50 cents a day. Her friend, Florence, acquired a job on a construction site and asked if she was interested in joining a team of women building a maternal health facility in their community of Kono, Sierra Leone.
Hawa started work at the Maternal Center of Excellence (MCOE) as Tool Depot Manager and has since been promoted to Quality Control Manager. She now oversees a team of five people, supporting them with their tasks such as checking their site layouts for accuracy and calculating payments for the foremen. She also estimates how many pieces of wood, rebar, or blocks needed for the site.
Although Hawa had never seen a set of construction drawings before, her ability to learn quickly and teach others became valuable gifts. She has memorized fractions and mastered how to measure with precision, all critical contributions to building infrastructure.
Hawa believes that the MCOE will provide more opportunities to the women in her community, including better healthcare access for mothers and newborns. With a construction site composed of majority women, the environment has taught them how to advocate for themselves and their families while building the future of maternal health.
Hawa still makes popcorn. Except now, she makes it as a snack for her friends at work.
Jamsky Charles | Equipment Manager
"Since joining BHI, my life has changed. I've become a different person, with work and personally, too.
I will continue to grow my skills."
Jamsky Charles has never been one to shy away from a challenge. Despite not finishing high school, Jamsky took it upon himself to become self-taught in English. This same curiosity and internal drive has propelled his career at Build Health International.
Born and raised in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Jamsky was first introduced to BHI in 2018 when he was working as a janitor at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais. Members of the BHI team in Mirebalais quickly recognized Jamsky’s strong work ethic. By 2020, he was invited to join BHI’s warehouse team in Haiti as an assistant tool guard. In the years that followed, Jamsky honed his skills in management, Excel, supply chain, and organizational leadership, among others, and by 2022 he was tapped to lead the Haiti warehouse as Equipment Manager.
Jamsky regards his promotion to Equipment Manager as a pivotal moment: “That's when I realized I accomplished something in my life.” The personal sense of accomplishment Jamsky feels in his role is complemented by the sense of purpose he feels in advancing BHI’s mission. “I feel like the impact is very positive. It's very positive”, shares Jamsky. “Every time a project is done, I'm really grateful to be part of it.”
As he looks towards the future, Jamsky is excited to further his skills in warehouse management and English as he continues to grow as a leader on BHI’s Haitian team.
Sarah Godschall | Project Engineer
“The BHI commitment to the communities where we work is not finite. It’s a lifelong commitment that is made to equip people with infrastructure and training. We don’t just walk away.”
Within her first week starting a summer engineering internship at BHI, Sarah Godschall was designing an anaerobic baffled reactor to be used for wastewater treatment in a cholera ward in Fond-des-Blancs, Haiti. By the end of her internship, she was collecting data for a hospital architectural master plan for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, also in Fond-des-Blancs.
BHI’s hands-on approach and strong emphasis on teamwork left an indelible impression on Sarah. Compared to previous internships, which had narrower focus, BHI gave Sarah more opportunities to broaden and develop new skills.
Sarah is one of several BHI members who began their careers as interns and have become staff members. After starting at BHI in 2017, she returned as a full-time project engineer after completing her master's of science in Civil Engineering. She now plans, designs, and engineers oxygen systems in sub-Saharan Africa. A typical workday can look like meeting with on-the-ground partners, developing calculations for a medical oxygen piping network, drafting 3D software models, and overseeing procurement and supply chain efforts.
“For engineers to play all of these different roles on a project and really deepen the impact of it–especially this early in their career–that’s an opportunity that I don't [think] I would get anywhere else,” she reflects. “And I'm really grateful to have it here.”
HUM Ten-Year Special Project Report
Following an earthquake that decimated much of Haiti’s healthcare infrastructure in January 2010, BHI designed and built its first project, the Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais with Partners In Health and community members. BHI has continued to support and expand this facility since groundbreaking. Ten years after its opening, HUM is a 300-bed teaching hospital that is recognized as one of the premiere healthcare institutions in the Caribbean.
1. Maternal Waiting Home and Sanitation. (2015 - 2016) Kay Mamito serves over 70 expectant mothers, enabling safer deliveries while providing free prenatal care, psychosocial support, meals, and education.
2. Acute Diarrheal Center. (2017) Equipped with 60 beds to strengthen the fight against cholera in Haiti, the Center treated over 1,000 patients in the first two months of the 2022 outbreak alone.
3. COVID-19 Treatment Center and Oxygen Expansion. (2020) In response to COVID-19, BHI quickly built a COVID-19 center with six wards, wall-mounted bedside oxygen, isolations rooms, WHO-regulation air changes systems, and sanitation facilities and doubled the size of the existing oxygen plant.
4. Rehabilitation Center. (2013-2014) The first of its kind in Haiti, the Rehabilitation Center supports amputees in regaining their independence through prosthesis fittings
and physical therapy.
5. BSL-3/Reference Laboratory. (2014-2016) The first fixed biosafety level-3 lab in the country and first public sector pathology lab for cancer treatment is equipped to handle highly infectious and airborne diseases and has enabled thousands of rapid and life-saving diagnoses, as well as new treatment protocols.
6. Emergency Department Expansion and Renovation. (2019-2021) The country’s first and only emergency medicine residency program now serves 14,000 patients annually with ample bed capacity and larger waiting rooms.
7. HUM Diagnostics Center. (2023) Once finished in the next year, the facility will be equipped with an X-ray machine, two CT scanners, and workspaces, allowing early and accurate diagnoses of serious conditions and enabling effective treatment.
8. Medical Resident Dorms. (2014) HUM’s dormitories enable training doctors and nurses from across the country to live on campus, bypassing complex transportation barriers and learning from the medical expertise and equipment only available at HUM.
9. New Solar Microgrid System (Installation and Expansion). (2021-2023) With a 2,400 solar panel upgrade and expansion including Tesla battery storage power packs, HUM's solar energy system saves the hospital over $800,000 annually and allows life-saving operations to run uninterrupted.
10. Oncology Center. (2018) HUM’s oncology treatment center sees over 135 patients a month, providing cancer screening, selective surgery, and chemotherapy, among other critical services.
11 | 12. Warehouse and Wastewater Treatment. (2014-2019) The BHI-designed water and sanitation system at HUM is critical to keeping hospital staff safe and the community healthy. An additional chlorine tank enhances hygiene and enables further protection against infectious disease.
Project Highlights
Maternal Center of Excellence
Sierra Leone has some of the highest maternal and child mortality in the world. In collaboration with Partners In Health, BHI is working to change this unjust reality by designing and constructing the Maternal Center of Excellence in Kono, Sierra Leone.
A five-year project, the MCOE will be a 10-building, 166-bed center for expectant mothers in the region to receive high-quality, dignified care. Construction of Phase I, including the birthing center, is well underway with the majority-woman construction team leading the way.
ACEGID, Phase II
The African Centre for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, led by renowned genomics scientist Dr. Christian Happi, is a cutting-edge research facility that completed the first genomic sequencing of Ebola and COVID-19 in Africa. BHI has partnered with ACEGID to complete and commission their BSL-3 lab, as well as the design and construction management alongside Turner & Townsend of an eight-building addition to the campus, including a teaching center, research labs, offices, housing, a conference center, and a kitchen and dining facility. This expansion will increase the capacity of genomics research across the African continent.
The Leo Project
BHI collaborated with The Leo Project, a community-based organization based in Nanyuki, Kenya, to build the Caitlin O’Hara Community Health Clinic to provide much-needed primary healthcare to the surrounding area. BHI completed architectural and structural designs for the clinic, which opened its doors in August 2023. The clinic will provide vital care, screening, and education for all, focusing on the most vulnerable populations in the community such as mothers and children.
HUM Solar Project
Frequent hospital expansions and renovations at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais required a solution to keep with hospital's energy demand. In collaboration with Partners In Health, BHI designed and installed a second iteration to existing solar panel infrastructure.
The changes doubled hospital electrical output while cutting costs by $800,000 per year and simultaneously reducing over 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Oxygen Find & Fix
Declared as essential medicine by the World Health Organization, medical oxygen and the healthcare systems that produce it are often under-resourced. When COVID-19 revealed gaps in oxygen systems, BHI worked to improve oxygen access to patients in resource-constrained settings. Through the support of global funders and partners, BHI has continued to identify, assess, repair, and install pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants to keep oxygen flowing.
Oxygen Training
To develop a more sustainable model of oxygen
infrastructure, BHI has focused on educating and
training biomedical personnel. Trainees range from
facility managers and hospital directors to engineers and technicians with the end goal of maintaining hospital oxygen systems in order to save lives.
This past year alone, BHI has trained more than 400 people throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Our Community
Thank you to the generosity and kindness of our global community.
Our supporters organized campaigns that raised awareness and critical funds to promote BHI’s impact. They became monthly donors, partners, and project sponsors; provided in-kind materials or software to enable our work; funded operating expenses; and stayed committed to building health equity.
We are grateful to everyone who made our work possible.
Andy Leonard
Volunteer from
Pyne Sand & Stone Co Inc
and WW Contracting Corp.
"Build Health International provides the opportunity to work with
and teach construction skills to some of the nicest, hard working people in the countries of the world. This has developed into lasting friendships. I always look forward to the next trip, wherever that may be."
Doug Call
Senior Program Officer
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
"Working with BHI on medical oxygen has been a tremendously rewarding experience as a donor. They combine practical know-how with a “roll up your sleeves” attitude to getting things done. I find their action-oriented, pragmatic approach refreshing. It's been an honor to support them, and I hope that relationship will continue."
France Umutesi
Medical Technology Division Manager
Rwanda Biomedical Center
"BHI has been instrumental in providing technical capacity to hospital technicians, hospital managers as well as central level engineers. This partnership is key to ensuring quality and safe production as well as distribution of oxygen where it’s needed."
Jean Shia
Managing Director, Autodesk Foundation
and BHI Board Member
"BHI is a rarity – an organization that is focused on creating and sustaining high quality health infrastructure in the most resource- constrained communities. They’ve leveraged funding, technology, and human capital support to take a systems approach to every project. As a funder since 2018, we are excited to see the growth and lasting impact they have achieved."
Ron Nash
President, COO North America LATICRETE International Inc.
"Rarely have we worked with a nonprofit who is so transparent with what they are doing. BHI comes to us with projects, not concepts. Working together has allowed our company to be actively engaged with our donation throughout the building process. We have been able to train our leadership while we participate in the solution."
Financial Summary
|
STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES | JUNE 30, 2023 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
OPERATING REVENUES |
Including Released from Restrictions |
TOTAL |
|
Project Funding |
$ 11,355,135 |
$ 11,355,135 |
|
Grants* |
2,911,807 |
363,528 |
|
Donations |
2,911,807 |
188,809 |
|
Total Operating Revenues |
14,455,751 |
11,907,472 |
|
EXPENSES |
TOTAL |
|
|
Project Expenses |
12,469,454 |
12,469,454 |
|
General and Administrative |
1,223,466 |
1,223,466 |
|
Fundraising and Communications |
583,986 |
583,986 |
|
Total Expenses |
$ 14,276,906 |
$ 14,276,906 |
|
Change in Net Assets - Operations |
178,845 |
(2,369,434) |
|
Non-Operating Revenue |
251,472 |
251,472 |
|
Change in Net Assets |
430,317 |
(2,117,962) |
|
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION |
JUNE 30, 2023 |
|
|
ASSETS |
TOTAL |
|
|
Current Assets |
||
|
Cash and Cash Equivalents |
805,643 |
|
|
Accounts Receivable |
311,791 |
|
|
Investments |
5,473,182 |
|
|
Total Current Assets |
6,590,616 |
|
|
Other Assets |
509,669 |
|
|
Total Assets |
7,100,285 |
|
|
LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS |
TOTAL |
|
|
Liabilities |
||
|
Accounts Payable |
176,893 |
|
|
Accrued Payroll |
496,746 |
|
|
Deferred Revenue |
600,298 |
|
|
Total Liabilities |
1,273,937 |
|
|
Net Assets |
||
|
Without Donor Restrictions |
2,206,565 |
|
|
With Donor Restrictions |
3,619,783 |
|
|
Total Net Assets |
5,826,348 |
|
|
Total Liabilities and Equity |
7,100,285 |
|
|
*Includes grants released from restrictions in prior years. Preliminary FY23 Financial Statements |
||
Patricia Maguire Meservey, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN (Chair)
Bob Broudo (Vice Chair)
Harry Dumay, Ph.D., MBA (Treasurer)
Jean Shia (Clerk)
Jennifer Aliber
Karen Keating Ansara
Herby Duverné
Dr. Regan Marsh, MD, MPH
Father John Unni
Build Health International’s Board of Directors is composed of a diverse set of visionary and driven leaders committed to equity. Their professional experiences and expertise range from clinical medicine to education and philanthropy. We are grateful for their critical guidance and support, which is helping shape BHI’s future.
Build Health International
100 Cummings Center
Suite 120B
Beverly, MA 01915
buildhealthinternational.org
BHI is grateful to Bec Rollins, Brogan
Graham, Jess Rinaldi, Jess Danforth,
Kat Kendon, Nadia Todres, and
Terry Sebastian for use of
their photos throughout this report.
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