Since October of 2018, Clinique Espérance et Vie has been under the skilled direction of Bendson Louima, physician and general surgeon. Aside from his role as Medical Direc- tor of CEV, he also serves as the Assistant Head of General Surgery at Sarcé Coeur Hospital in northern Haiti, and Professor of General Surgery at both the State University of Haiti in Limonade and University Hospital Justinian in Cap-Haitien.
Despite these many accomplishments, Louima, like most Haitians, comes from humble beginnings. He is one of 10 children born to a family of modest means in Mombétte, a rural section of Port-de-Paix in northwest Haiti. He was fortunate enough to attend school and continue on to university, an accomplishment less than 1% of high school graduates have an opportunity to do. Not only is he the only doctor in his family, he’s the only one in his hometown of roughly 28,000 people.
Louima studied medicine at University Notre Dame de Haiti in Port-au-Prince before specializing in general surgery at University Hospital Justinian in Cap-Haitien and graduating in 2009. Along the way, he completed additional training in Belgium, France, and the United States.
On a fortuitous day In November 2008, long-time friend Dr. Harold Durand Fils, brought Louima to Terrier Rouge where he was introduced to Father Jean Monique Bruno. At that time, Father Bruno was hosting an American volunteer team led by Dr. Berry Rice, founder of Clinique Espérance et Vie. Louima was fortunate enough to witness the inauguration of the Clinique in 2008 and its opening in February 2009. Since that day, Dr. Louima has become part of the Clinique family, both as a consultant and physician on duty. His friendship with Dr. Rice has also been a special collaboration. They were together during the earthquake on January 12, 2010, a day that will never be forgotten in Haiti. Driven by what they witnessed in the aftermath of the earthquake, between 2011-2012 he and Dr. Rice designed the plans to add a second story to the Clinique with the vision of expanding the services offered to include maternity care, gynecology, pediatrics, emergency care, ophthal- mology, dental service, general medicine, physiotherapy, general surgery, and orthopedic services.
After Dr. Rice’s retirement in 2013, Dr. Louima held the position of Medical Director of the Clinic from 2014-2015 before leaving to gain greater surgical experience at University Hospital Justinian. The Clinique was never far from his heart, however, and he returned in October of last year with the same steadfast vision - to give the community of Terrier Rouge healthcare that will serve as the gold standard for all of northeast Haiti. With Dr. Louima at the helm, the Clinique is seeing the fruition of the dreams he shared with Dr. Berry Rice a decade ago. We feel blessed to have such a dedicated visionary as Dr. Louima Louima at the helm of Clinique Espérance et Vie and look forward to many more years of serving the community of Terrier Rouge!