St. Croix Public Health

St. Croix is the largest of the US Virgin Islands with a population of roughly 50,000 with one major hospital on the island and several smaller clinics. While there are health care services on the island, the populace faces many healthcare disparities and difficulty accessing these services. The high level of poverty and lack of infrastructure makes it difficult for the local population to access proper care. Many of the same diseases that disproportionately affect people of color in the US mainland also disproportionately affect people of color on the island of St. Croix: diseases such as such as cancer, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.

In May of this year a small group of students from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing will be traveling to St. Croix to provide health care education to the area in order to address some of these concerns and disparities. Students for the School of Nursing have been traveling to St. Croix to provide public health nursing interventions and community health care education for the past 12 years and we will be the 21st group of students to travel to St. Croix.

Some of our planned interventions include:

· Hypertension and diabetes screening at La Reine Farmer’s Market’s health fair

· Scoliosis screening, dental education, anti-bullying education, and nutrition education at several local schools

· Hypertension and diabetes screening at Flamboyant Gardens senior citizens housing complex

· Home visits to provide education for chronically ill

· Collaborate with Lutheran Social Services who runs homes for disabled adults and children

Donations will be used to cover medical supplies, car rental services, and transportation —any funds that exceed these costs will be donated to local organizations such as Lutheran Social Services. Thank you for your support!



left to right: Ogechi, Kristie, Michael, Elizabeth, Elysia, Kate, Kathleen, Melinda