Clinic in a Container

SAID sends mobile 'clinique' to the Congo

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The Seventh-day Adventist Church has always prided itself on its passion for medical missionary work, and with the School of Architecture & Interior Design's (SAID) latest project, remote heath care could become considerably easier.

Clinic in a Container is a medical diagnostic station built from an 8x8x20 metal shipping container, and was engineered by Carey Carscallen, dean, and his Design Build Studio class. Featuring solar panels, stainless steel work stations, an oxygen concentrator, a gas-operated water heater, HVAC system and all the equipment of a modern diagnostic room, the fully-functioning medical facility cost about $35,000 to build. 

“Many of our studio projects focus on some aspect of helping the local community,” says Carscallen. “Though it differs each year, the students are involved in a community-focused project in some way every year of the program.”

Shipping container medical facilities are a fairly recent development in the realm of disaster relief and provide a sensible, affordable alternative to building traditional hospital structures. The SAID plans to send this particular container to a mission field in the mountains of The Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a mine is located. There are no available medical services in the area and the community wants to establish a church and school, but require healthcare services first.

"Our entire program is becoming more and more connected to service and community,” Carscallen comments. “We’ve become much more intentional about our students thinking about their commitment to God and how they can use this profession to help others.”

Donations to the program can be made on the Andrews Giving web page by typing “container” in the search bar and selecting the option that appears.

For more information about projects and activities in the SAID, visit andrews.edu/said, email architecture@andrews.edu or call 269-471-6003.