Our Story
About Us
"Health For Remote Communities" is what we do. HAS is recognized by the IRS as a 501 (c) (3) operating exclusively for charitable and educational purposes.
Health Access Sumbawa's great strength is our ability to manage that last mile where programs impact rural people where they live. Our primary service area is villages on Cempi Bay in Central Sumbawa, Indonesia..
(Updated by HAS co-founder Jack Kennedy Oct. 2022)
Origins
Hard to believe it’s been almost a decade since HAS got its start. It was 2014 when I first stepped foot on a remote beach in Sumbawa, an island in Eastern Indonesia. The hamlets on this coast had no running water, no toilets, no shops, and no access to health care. Many villagers were undernourished, and many suffered repeated bouts of malaria. I learned that Sili village had moved location 3 times over a period of 40 years in failed attempts to escape this dreaded disease.
Soon after returning home to Maine, I landed in hospital with malaria. Something had to be done. Friends and family generously rallied to the cause, and Health Access Sumbawa was born.
Malaria
The first few years HAS focused on eliminating malaria. That required us to build a clinic with a simple laboratory. We sent 2 staff for training to become malaria microscopists. Volunteers hung thousands of treated bed nets to reduce infections. The program worked. We beat malaria within 3 years and have kept the area malaria-free for the past 5 year,
Recent Medical Projects
Over the past year HAS built and equipped a second clinic, this one in Panubu hamlet. The building includes housing for medical staff. Midwife Putri and her family live at the clinic. It’s a beautiful place, surrounded by organic gardens, just a short walk to the beach and village center.
Not All Health Is Medical
Clinicians will tell you that over 60% of health outcomes are determined by factors outside of the clinic walls. To get at the root causes of health complaints, half our budget each year goes to public health and food security programs. These address inadequate nutrition, poor hygiene, polluted drinking water, and programs to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
Organic Farms
We've worked to improve food security and nutrition since our earliest days. Today we support 3 large gardens in 3 villages. HAS pays for fencing, bores wells, builds water towers, buys seed, etc. These communities were food deserts just a few short years ago.
Workshops & Clubs for Children
HAS runs after school programs for at risk children in the hamlets of Sili, Panubu, Lakey, and on the island of Bali, impacting over 100 children each week including orphans.
What’s Next
In November we will hang another 500 insecticide- treated bednets. These will replace the original 500 placed in 2016 that are now in tatters. 500 bednets will protect 1,000 people from bites at night by infected mosquitoes.
Doctors’ Virtual Office (DVO)
(Special report available)
Recently we embarked on a bold new adventure that has enormous potential. I'm talking about a telemedicine program designed to connect city doctors to patients and nurses in remote villages. Our concept is a hybrid model that combines the virtues of in-person and virtual care.
We are driven by a local imperative. Our nurse and midwife need a way to consult with doctors on cases that are above their pay grade. Currently there's no way for them to do that. More broadly, tens of thousands of nurses in Indonesia (and globally) have the same problem. Telemedicine is the best solution on the horizon.
Health Access Sumbawa will organize a pilot program utilizing a suite of off-the-shelf technologies that are affordable, available now, and easy to use. See our special report for details.
Fortunately, companies are investing billions in digital medicine + broadband connectivity from anywhere. The time is right. We can ride a worldwide wave of interest and innovation. Exciting opportunities to improve healthcare equity abound.
HAS service area map