PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Wearing white coats and marching in formation, dozens of Haitian medical students took to the streets Wednesday to pressure the government into relocating and reopening one of the nation’s largest public hospitals — a facility they say is essential to completing their training as future doctors.
The students set out peacefully from their university’s downtown Port-au-Prince campus and made their way toward the outskirts of the prime minister’s office, where anti-riot police formed a barrier to stop their advance.
An Associated Press journalist on the scene witnessed a uniformed officer fire his weapon into the air from inside a vehicle in an apparent attempt to break up the crowd. As he brought the gun down, it discharged a second time, striking a student in the arm.
The students responded by hurling rocks at the officer’s vehicle, shattering multiple windows, while shouting, “We are not armed!”
Esdras Paul, president of the faculty of medicine council, described the police response as unacceptable. “Not only did the police use tear gas on us, the police fired live bullets at us,” he said. “We have students who are actual victims who are being cared for. We condemn this because we are holding peaceful demonstrations.”
The University Hospital of Haiti — more widely referred to as the General Hospital — was shut down in 2024 after gang violence made it impossible to operate. The government attempted to bring the hospital back online on Christmas Eve of that year, but the effort ended in tragedy when suspected gang members opened fire at the scene, killing two journalists and wounding seven more. A police officer also lost his life in the attack.
Johnson “Izo” André, widely regarded as Haiti’s most powerful gang leader and a key figure in the Viv Ansanm gang coalition — which is believed to control roughly 70% of Port-au-Prince — took credit for the assault. In a social media video posted around that time, he stated that the coalition had not given its approval for the hospital to reopen.
Shortly after the attack, the government removed the country’s health minister from office. The hospital has not reopened since.
Medical student Jean Pierre said the country’s top leader must understand what is at stake. “The prime minister needs to hear that the work we do is for the people in Haiti,” he said.
In February 2025, gangs set fire to the General Hospital, further damaging the already shuttered facility. Its prolonged closure has put enormous pressure on the few remaining health institutions still operating in the country. An estimated 70% of public health facilities were closed last year due to gang activity, leaving approximately 4.4 million people without access to medical care.
This was not the first time students have taken a stand — they also marched peacefully the previous week over the same issue, with police responding by deploying tear gas to end that demonstration as well.
