Haiti: MSF forced to permanently close its Turgeau Emergency Center in Port-au-Prince

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been forced to permanently close its Emergency Center in Turgeau due to increasing insecurity in the centre of Port-au-Prince. 

This health facility had temporarily closed its doors and suspended its activities in March 2025 following a serious incident targeting MSF.

“For several weeks now, the area surrounding the centre of Port-au-Prince has been the scene of regular armed violence. If medical activities were to resume at this hospital, located in the immediate vicinity of these clashes, they would be severely compromised by the level of risk to patients and healthcare workers. The building has already been hit several times by stray bullets due to its location close to the combat zones, which would make resuming activities too dangerous for both patients and staff," said Jean-Marc Biquet, MSF Head of Mission in Haiti.

The Turgeau Emergency Center suspended operations in March 2025 following a serious security incident that endangered the lives of our staff. Since the suspension, several technical ballistic protection assessments have been conducted to identify suitable protection solutions, but no option has been able to guarantee a sufficient level of security to continue our activities.

“MSF deeply regrets this difficult decision, which was taken as a last resort. This closure has a significant impact on access to healthcare for a population already severely affected by violence, instability, and increasingly precarious living conditions,” Biquet continues.

“However, we remain fully committed and are actively exploring all alternatives to maintain our medical support in Port-au-Prince and Carrefour with MSF's current health activities and to see if others can be considered,” Biquet concluded.

It should be noted that before resuming medical activities in downtown Port-au-Prince and Carrefour, MSF is still awaiting the signing of a memorandum of understanding establishing a humanitarian corridor between Port-au-Prince and Carrefour. This step is considered crucial and is a prerequisite for restarting activities that have been suspended since March 2025. 

MSF deplores this situation and calls on all parties to respect humanitarian and medical work. Medical action must be able to take place in complete neutrality, in an area protected from violence, in order to continue to respond to the urgent needs of vulnerable populations. 

MSF continues its activities in the capital Port-au-Prince through the Tabarre hospital, the Cité Soleil emergency center, the Pran Men’m clinic, primary health care in Delmas 4, Bel Air, Bas Bel Air/La Saline, and the recent reopening of the Isaïe Jeanty maternity hospital in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Population.