“When MSF arrived at Boost hospital in 2009, the hospital had 150 beds with about 20 patients,” says Marcella Kraaij, former MSF project coordinator in Helmand province. “Now we have around 400 beds, more than 900 staff and we are seeing thousands of patients every month. I think that the biggest difference between Boost hospital in 2009 and 2019 is the consistency and availability of resources, in every sense of the word. The buildings have been improved, the number of staff has been increased, a lot of trainings have been provided to the staff, and supplies are always available.”
Today, Boost hospital serves approximately one million people. It is the only referral hospital in the province and one of only two referral hospitals run by the Ministry of Public Health in southern Afghanistan. MSF is supporting all hospital’s departments, including emergency, surgery, maternity, paediatrics and internal medicine.