DEERFIELD BEACH, FL-- Mapei Americashas partnered with Build Health International to donate tile and stone installation system materials in order to help construct a new maternity ward at St. Boniface Hospital in Fond-des-Blancs, Haiti. "An 8,700-square-foot addition is planned to accommodate four outpatient exam/ultrasound rooms, six postpartum beds, six pathology observation beds, five labor and delivery birthing beds, eight NICU bassinets, along with the required patient and staff clinical support," said Boston architectural firm Payette. "In addition to the maternity and neonatal service, a 5,000-square-foot training center will be provided for community health and activity development."

"When we were approached by Jim Ansara from Build Health International to participate in this healthcare project in Haiti, we were eager to work with them," said Mapei Americas' Director of Strategic Marketing Real Bourdage. The company supplied surface preparation products for parts of the floors, as well as Mapei's Ultraflex LFT mortar for large-format tile. "Ultraflex LFT is one of our best products and will work with any size tile installation," said Bourdage.

Mapei grout was also supplied to fill the tile joints.

The goal of Build Health International is to make it possible for global health organizations to deliver quality health care to those who need it the most. "The people who need health care infrastructure the most, and have the least access, live in resource constrained, hard-to-build environments," said Ansara. "The most impoverished countries pose unique challenges to the construction of affordable, effective and appropriate health care facilities. We help our partners plan, design, build and equip the facilities that are sustainable and so desperately needed."