Old operating room, new office!

The connection between Hospitainer BV and the Hospitainer Foundation is undeniable; our roots trace back to the company. However, in our daily operations, we function differently. To clearly distinguish between the social enterprise and the foundation, we began considering a new office space. When you think of Hospitainer, you think of containers—they’re at the core of everything we do. So, why not make the new office out of containers as well?

Let’s take a quick leap back to the start of Hospitainer. Rolof Mulder had a vision: to create medical solutions that were both affordable and scalable, tailored to the environments they were meant for and the people who would work in them. He sold his IT company at the time and invested the money, along with his pension savings, into building his first hospital. In the backyard of his neighbor, a retired carpenter, a full-fledged hospital made from shipping containers began to take shape. After a year of construction, the funds had run out, but the hospital was complete. During this time, Rolof approached several potential partners, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The hospital was barely finished when MSF called urgently—they needed a clinic with operating room capacity. The earthquake in Haiti had destroyed everything, and there was an immediate need for a place where orthopedic surgeries could be performed.

Less than 72 hours later, the clinic was no longer in the backyard but on a ship heading to Haiti. After three days of assembly work, the clinic was operational and served for 10 months, during which more than 3,000 major surgeries were performed. By then, the local hospital, which had been destroyed, was restored, and the clinic was no longer needed. Hospitainer, on MSF’s request, refitted the clinic, always ready for new emergencies.

Fast forward to 2024. The clinic, no longer meeting Hospitainer’s current standards, was sitting in storage. We saw an opportunity to bring things full circle. The double operating room (two 20-foot containers joined together) has been transformed into a comfortable workspace and a beautiful area to welcome guests.

New work in an old operating room!