Doctors Without Borders announced Wednesday that it is permanently closing its emergency care center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, due to escalating violence that has left much of the city under gang control. The organization’s facility had been a critical source of medical care in a capital where roughly 90% of neighborhoods are dominated by armed groups.
More than 60% of Port-au-Prince’s health facilities, including the country’s main hospital, are now closed or non-functional because of the ongoing violence. The emergency center, located in the Turgeau neighborhood, had temporarily shut in March 2025 after gunmen opened fire on four of its vehicles while evacuating staff, leaving several employees with minor injuries. “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, head of mission in Haiti for Doctors Without Borders.
Before the March attack, the Turgeau center treated more than 300 patients in just one week, and over 2,500 medical consultations were recorded in February alone. The facility, originally opened in Martissant in 2006, moved to Turgeau in 2021 for safety reasons, and between 2021 and early 2025, it provided care to over 100,000 patients.
The surge in violence has taken a deadly toll across Haiti, with more than 3,100 people killed and 1,100 injured from January to June, according to United Nations data. The U.N. International Organization for Migration reported that gang activity has forced a record 1.4 million people to flee their homes, a 36% increase since late 2024, with nearly two-thirds of displacements occurring outside Port-au-Prince, particularly in central regions. Makeshift shelters across the country have risen from 142 in December to 238 so far this year.
