Frequently Asked Questions

Development and finance | Terminology | Events | Joining and visiting
Research, training and technical assistance

General history

What is Partners In Health (PIH)?
Partners In Health is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts, and active in the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, Russia, and the United States. Our mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. Through service, training, advocacy, and research, and by establishing long-term relationships with sister organizations, PIH strives to achieve two overarching goals: to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need of them and to serve as an antidote to despair.

How did PIH start?
Partners In Health was formally founded in 1987 by Paul Farmer, Thomas J. White, and Todd McCormack, joined soon thereafter by Ophelia Dahl and Jim Yong Kim. The history of Partners In Health is recounted in Pulitzer Prizewinner Tracy Kidder’s bestselling book, Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World (Random House, 2003).

Where is PIH located? In what countries do you work?
We are headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. PIH works in poor communities in the Caribbean (Haiti), Latin America (Peru, Mexico, Guatemala), Africa (Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi), the United States (Greater Boston) and Russia.

Our mailing address is:           
Partners In Health
641 Huntington Avenue, 1st floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
United States of America
Telephone +1 (617) 432-5256
Fax +1 (617) 432-5300

What is PIH’s relationship with Harvard University?
Partners In Health benefits greatly from our affiliation with faculty and colleagues from Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. This collaboration among a non-profit organization, a medical school, a school of public health, and a teaching hospital is a new and fruitful model for leveraging the resources of the world’s leading academic institutions to inspire, enlist, and train others to address the pressing health inequalities of our times. Please click here to learn more about each of these affiliated institutions and how this collaborative model allows PIH to translate its lived experience serving the destitute sick into clinical and operational research, education and training paradigms, and programs and policies that reduce health disparities and improve treatment outcomes.

Is there a connection between Partners In Health and Partners HealthCare?
Partners In Health and Partners HealthCare are independent institutions.

How has the publication and success of Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains affected PIH?
We have been utterly stunned by the positive response, worldwide, to Mountains Beyond Mountains. We are enormously grateful that the book has helped bring new attention and resources to bear on global health issues. We are especially gratified that so many students, in particular, have been galvanized to pursue social justice issues in their home communities as well as nationally and internationally, as a result of reading Mountains Beyond Mountains.

What is the Institute for Health and Social Justice?
The Institute for Health and Social Justice is the research, education, and advocacy arm of PIH and is directed by Dr. Joia Mukherjee. It was established in 1993 with the prize money from Paul Farmer’s MacArthur award in response to a need for critical analysis of the health problems of the poor. The IHSJ has published several books: Women, Poverty, and AIDS (Common Courage Press, 1996); Dying for Growth (Common Courage Press, 2000); and Global AIDS: Myths and Facts (South End Press, 2003). The IHSJ also hosts seminars and other events and oversees PIH’s annual summer internship. In 2007, the IHSJ will be focusing its efforts on the issue of food security.

Who are PIH’s employees?
PIH employs more than 4,000 people worldwide, more than 98 percent of whom are members of the communities in which we work; the majority of those are community health workers. PIH’s staff comprises healthcare personnel, accountants, cooks, laboratory technicians, drivers, computer programmers, engineers, administrators, researchers, medical equipment specialists, teachers, agronomists... whatever it takes to provide quality medical care in the impoverished settings where we work.

Development and finance

How much money does PIH raise? Where does this money come from?
PIH’s income in 2005 totaled more than $36 million. Hundreds of thousands of individuals and dozens of U.S. corporations, foundations, academic institutions, and other organizations support PIH each year. We also receive funding and commodities from U.S. and other governmental agencies and from multilateral bodies such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

How does PIH spend my donation?
The majority of our donors want their gifts to be used wherever the need is greatest. This allows PIH the flexibility to use resources as efficiently as possible and to fund areas of our work that are not addressed by targeted donations. PIH’s financial records are available to the public, and we conform to the highest accounting and financial standards.

How much of PIH’s budget goes to program activities?
Audited accounts for 2005 indicate that 94 percent of PIH's total expenditures went to program activities and medicines. Administration and development accounted for the remaining 6 percent. This compares favorably with other nonprofits working in the field of health, which on average budget 79 percent of their expenditures for program activities and 21 percent for administration and fundraising.

Is PIH a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization? Is my donation tax-deductible?
Partners In Health is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Your contribution is fully tax-deductible as allowed by law.

Will I receive a receipt for my donation to PIH?
Yes, you will receive an acknowledgement letter for your donation that will also serve as your tax receipt.

Can I make a donation to PIH through this website?
You can donate to PIH through the website by going to our Donate Online page. Online donations are processed using the secure server and transaction facilities of Entango, a company that has established stringent privacy policies to address the needs of non-profits and their supporters.

Can I donate drugs, medical supplies, or other goods to PIH?
For more information about donations of medical equipmsnet and supplies, please visit the Medical Donations page. Partners In Health is unable to accept opened, expired or short-dated pharmaceuticals, hazardous materials, used prosthetics, clothing, shoes, or children’s toys. All donated medical equipment must be in excellent condition, fully operational, and electrically compatible.To donate supplies, please email medicaldonations@pih.org. We will contact you to discuss your donation in further detail and to make logistical arrangements. If necessary, PIH can arrange for pick-up and transportation of donated materials.

Can PIH accept a matching gift from my company?
Partners In Health is thankful for the additional support received through matching gifts.  Ask your company’s human resources or personnel office if your gift to PIH is eligible to be matched. Some companies will double or even triple the amount of your gift!

Can I make a donation to PIH in honor or memory of someone?
To make an honorary or memorial contribution using a credit card simply complete the online donation form and check the “My donation is a tribute to someone special” box at the bottom of the page and fill in the required information. If donating by mail, please enclose a note with your check that indicates the name of the person you would like to honor and the name and address of anyone you would like to notify of your gift.

Can I make a gift of stock to PIH?
Partners In Health welcomes gifts of stock. Donations of appreciated securities may allow you to avoid tax liability while receiving a deduction for your charitable contribution.

Does PIH accept bequests and planned gifts?
Partners In Health is honored to accept planned gifts. Supporting Partners In Health by making a planned gift will ensure that our work will continue well into the future. Planned gifts provide a unique way for donors to fulfill charitable and personal financial objectives at the same time. Learn about new tax incentives for making IRA gifts in 2006/2007 or other gift planning options.

Can I donate to PIH in a currency other than U.S. dollars?
You can donate to PIH in a currency other than U.S. dollars by making on online credit card contribution. The credit card company will automatically convert your gift to U.S. dollars. PIH is registered as a U.S. charity and all donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

What is the PIH Partners Circle?
The Partners Circle recognizes donors who contribute $1,000 or more to PIH's annual fund for operating expenses. Members of the Partners Circle share a common commitment to PIH’s mission and provide vital funding for our programs.

Does PIH give grants to other individuals or organizations?
PIH does not give grants to individuals or organizations.

Terminology

What is “a preferential option for the poor”?
Although PIH is a secular organization not affiliated with, motivated by, or espousing any particular religious ideology, we find the concept of “a preferential option for the poor” to be a powerful moral imperative. The concept stems from Catholic social teaching and signifies a special concern in distributive justice for poor and vulnerable persons. The “poor” includes but is not limited to those who are economically deprived. The concept of “a preferential option for the poor” challenges us to be advocates for the voiceless and powerless among us. Those who are in any way and for any reason deprived, marginalized, or vulnerable have a special moral claim on the community. As a matter of both justice and charity, we must put in place structures and systems to address and meet their needs, so that they might participate more fully in the common good and thereby flourish more fully as human persons.

What is an accompagnateur?
Accompagnateurs, or community health workers, are the backbone of PIH’s community-based model of health care. Settings boasting few physicians and nurses are often those that have a large number of underutilized community health workers. They and other underemployed persons and traditional healers alike have expressed interest in being trained to “accompany” their neighbors living with AIDS, tuberculosis, and other diseases. In PIH projects, accompagnateurs observe the ingestion of pills and respond to patient and family concerns; for these services, they receive a modest stipend and ongoing training in the importance of observing therapy daily, recognizing symptoms of illness or side effects of medications, and maintaining patient confidentiality. Most importantly, accompagnateurs provide emotional support to patients and help physicians and nurses improve adherence to treatment, prolong patient survival, minimize rates of developed drug resistance, and maintain contact with dispersed communities living far from the clinic or hospital. More information about PIH’s community-based model of health care can be found here.

Events

I’d like to hold an event or fundraiser for Partners In Health. Can you provide me with guidance, information, and materials?
We would be happy to provide you with videos, brochures, annual reports, newsletters, and other materials to support your event. Please email events@pih.org for more information.

How can I invite a PIH representative to speak at an event or fundraiser?
If you are interested in having someone from PIH speak at an event, please fill out our speaker request form [download as a PDF or Word file] and send it to speaker@pih.org. Due to the volume of requests we receive, we are not always able to confirm promptly and personally after receiving your request. We thank you in advance for your patience.

Does PIH hold public events that I can attend?
PIH’s annual Thomas J. White Symposium, typically held in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the early fall, is our flagship event. Please check the events section for a regularly updated calendar of public appearances by PIHers worldwide.

I’d like to use PIH photos in a publication or at an event. How can I obtain permission and publication quality copies of your images?
We are pleased to share our materials with you as long as PIH’s authorship is properly acknowledged. Please contact Andrew Marx, Manager of Communications, for additional information.

I’m a member of the press and would like to do a story on Partners In Health.
Please contact Andrew Marx, Manager of Communications.

Joining and visiting

I would like to intern/volunteer with PIH. Where can I find out about such opportunities?
All internships and volunteer positions are by application only. Please visit the Join the Team section for additional information. Due to the volume of inquiries we receive, PIH is not able to acknowledge receipt of your application. We will contact you only if your application is selected for additional review. Aside from a limited number of postings at Socios En Salud in Peru, PIH generally does not recruit volunteers for overseas work; whenever possible, we work with members of the communities we serve in order to expand local skills and knowledge as well as to ensure sustainability. If you are interested in overseas work, we encourage you to explore opportunities at other organizations; www.idealist.org is one of many excellent web and print resources.

I would like to work for PIH. Do you have any job openings?
All employment opportunities are posted in the Join the Team section of this website. Due to the volume of inquiries we receive, PIH is not able to acknowledge receipt of your application. We will contact you only if your application is selected for additional review.

Can I visit a PIH site overseas?
While we are grateful for your interest in our projects, we hope you will understand and respect the fact that our sites are fully functioning clinical and administrative facilities, just like hospitals and offices in the United States, and are not open to visitors.

What kinds of research does PIH undertake at its sites?
Both our service delivery in impoverished settings and our advocacy on behalf of the destitute sick are reinforced by research that documents the need, monitors the impact, and demonstrates the benefits of our model of care. PIH staff actively publish in the scholarly literature on topics relating to health, human rights, anthropology, political economy, history, public health, and epidemiology. Our research activities are conducted under the aegis of Harvard Medical School, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Does PIH train health and administrative personnel from other organizations?
We are actively increasing our training capacity at our sites in Haiti, Peru, and Rwanda and are in the process of expanding our offerings for both internal and external personnel. We are also exploring online learning options so as to be able to share our experiences with as broad an audience as possible.

Can PIH give me advice on how to launch or manage health projects?
We invite you to browse this website for extensive information on a variety of issues related to health projects in resource-poor settings. In the future, we hope to create dedicated libraries and toolkits that bring together practical information and resources for program management.