How Pieces of the Old NCH Were Recycled and Reused in Healthcare Facilities Around the World

Prior to the demolition of the old Nantucket Cottage Hospital in 2019, hundreds of pieces of equipment, furniture, shelving, and doors – nearly everything that wasn’t moving into the new hospital– was salvaged for a good cause.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital partnered with another non-profit organization, Build Health International (BHI), of Beverly, Mass., to facilitate the transfer of these items from the old facility to hospitals and healthcare organizations around the world, including projects in Haiti, Sierra Leone and Lesotho. Build Health International’s mission is to promote global health equity by developing high quality health infrastructure to enable access to dignified and affordable healthcare in impoverished and resource-constrained regions of the world.

We recently heard from the Build Health International team regarding its various projects that were able to utilize items from the old Nantucket Cottage Hospital facility, and they include:

• Center for Infectious Disease and Emergency Care – St. Boniface Hospital- Fond des Blancs, Haiti
• Emergency Center Renovation – University Hospital – Mirebalais, Haiti
• Inpatient-Specialty Service Center –  University Hospital – Mirebalais, Haiti
• Surgical Center – Danita’s Children – Quanaminthe, Haiti
• Furniture & Equipment Support Project / Upgrades – Partners in Health – Sierra Leone
• COVID-19 Treatment Center – St. Boniface Hospital – Fond des Blancs, Haiti
• COVID-19 Treatment Center –  University Hospital – Mirebalais, Haiti
• Furniture & Equipment Support Project / Upgrades – Partners in Health – Lesotho

Locally, items from the old hospital including shelving, exam tables, furniture, carts, and IV poles, were donated to several island-based organizations including the Nantucket Fire Department, the Nantucket Public Schools, Health Imperatives – Nantucket, the Nantucket New School, the Hospital Thrift Shop, as well as the Nantucket Sewer Department, which received old laboratory equipment such as refrigerators, microscopes and chairs.