Samaritan's Purse Opens Field Hospital in Venezuela After Deadly Earthquakes
Samaritan's Purse opened a 56-bed emergency field hospital in La Guaira, Venezuela on June 30, 2026, after two earthquakes exceeding 7.0 magnitude struck the country on June 24. The organization airlifted nearly 100,000 pounds of supplies and deployed more than 40 disaster response team members to provide trauma care.
Samaritan's Purse opened its emergency field hospital in La Guaira, Venezuela on June 30, 2026, six days after two powerful earthquakes struck the country's northern coast.
The back-to-back quakes hit on June 24, with the second reaching a magnitude of 7.5. The disaster killed more than 1,700 people, injured thousands more, and collapsed hundreds of buildings across Caracas and La Guaira.
The field hospital includes two operating rooms, a critical care unit, a pharmacy, a laboratory, and 56 patient beds. A team of more than 40 Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) members is running the facility.
To get the hospital in place, Samaritan's Purse airlifted nearly 100,000 pounds of supplies on a 767 cargo plane on June 27. The organization also distributed emergency shelter materials, blankets, solar lights, and community water filtration units to displaced families.
Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse, said the organization is committed to a long-term presence in Venezuela. "We are here to help the Venezuelan people, and we are not leaving," Graham said.
Government recovery efforts have been slow, and local churches have stepped in to fill gaps in aid distribution. Samaritan's Purse is coordinating with local congregations to reach communities that government workers have not yet reached.
The organization continues to use its cargo plane to deliver additional hygiene kits and medical supplies as the relief operation expands.
