More than 40 hospitals may be forced to close due to the dire fuel shortage affecting the country,  Le Nouvelliste reported.

The association of private hospitals in Haiti sounded an alarm, calling on the government and its supervisory authority, the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), to take action. The group said that its forty members will be forced to close their doors on Oct. 25, if emergency humanitarian measures are not taken to allow them to access more fuel.

Hospitals Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs and the Saint Luc Foundation in Tabarre, north of Port-au-Prince, announced plans to suspend their services beginning Oct. 26. Officials from St. Damien and St. Luc health centers said the power plant that supports them only has 6000 gallons of diesel in reserve. The two are waiting on an additional 16,000 gallons of fuel needed in order to keep the hospitals running.

“A situation of fuel shortages resulting from worsening security conditions risks the paralysis of the hospitals of the organization Nos Petits Frères et Sœurs (NPFS) and the St Luc Foundation (FSL),” read a statement issued by hospital officials on Oct. 23. “Therefore, if no delivery of diesel is guaranteed as soon as possible (16,000 gallons are expected), the pediatric services for more than 300 children, maternity for more than 45 women and urgent care and hospitalization for more than 70 adults, including trauma care, will be interrupted for lack of fuel on Oct. 26.” 

St. Damien hospital and the St. Luc Foundation are among the limited number of hospitals in Haiti providing care to COVID-19 patients.