Health services
Across the world, The Salvation Army operates 24 hospitals, 132 other healthcare facilities and a number of mobile clinics, from the Toronto Grace Health Centre in Canada to Howard Hospital in rural Zimbabwe.
Health and well-being
Love and care at the Gatehospitalet street hospital in Oslo, Norway
The Salvation Army seeks to be a significant participant in the delivery of faith-based, integrated, quality primary health care as close to the family as possible, giving priority to poor and marginalised members of society.
Salvation Army health care around the world
Salvation Army health institutions are often situated in hard-to-reach, rural areas where others are unable or unwilling to deliver. These hospitals or clinics are often the focal point of the community and offer a safe space and healthcare to people of all faiths or none, always serving patients without discrimination.
The Salvation Army’s health services are most effective, influential and sustainable when they link health-related community development with corps-based programmes, that give local people and communities the opportunity to participate.
The Salvation Army offers education programmes that equip health workers with appropriate skills and experience as well as developing commitment to holistic Christian health ministry.
Education Programmes
The Salvation Army offers education programmes that equip health workers with appropriate skills and experience as well as developing commitment to holistic Christian health ministry.
Salvation Army nursing, midwifery and biomedical colleges around the world continue to share the lives, skills and passions of thousands of health workers worldwide. They also support national efforts to help reduce the shortage of health workers that many countries around the world experience.
For instance, due to a shortage of laboratory personnel across Zambia which severely hampered the treatment of people across the country, The Salvation Army’s Chikankata Mission Hospital opened a College of Biomedical Sciences.
The college started with 20 students and four repurposed hospital buildings. Such was the need for this institution, The Salvation Army has partnered with the government and other healthcare providers to develop a campus able to train more than 200 biomedical scientists each year. Once qualified, they are posted throughout Zambia. A day programme and subsidised fees ensure that the people around the rural area of Chikankata also have the opportunity to train in the college.
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
Our WASH projects look at holistic water, sanitation and hygiene needs, using predominantly community-led behaviour change approaches.
As well as community-based WASH, The Salvation Army works to improve WASH facilities in schools and health-care facilities with a focus on ensuring that these are inclusive to all.
Before we had the tippy tap, I often got sick and missed school. Now, I always wash my hands before eating and after using the latrine. I even helped my parents build one at home.
Jane, aged 12, a pupil at Buserere Primary School, Uganda, whose school was involved in a project to upgrade sanitation facilities, develop and support school WASH clubs, and improve the rainwater collection system.
36,180
people are expected to gain access to safe water through projects initiated in 2024
188,686
community members are currently benefiting from ongoing WASH programmes in 16 countries
Economic empowerment
Sri Lanka
WASH
Impacting futures in Anuradhapura
In north Sri Lanka, The Salvation Army is working with communities on a range of projects to establish safe water and promote economic empowerment.
Supporting older people
The Salvation Army has a long history of providing care for older people, with many territories around the world offering residential care.
At the heart of many religious traditions lies a profound reverence for the elderly. The Bible holds older people in high esteem and places significance on caring for the vulnerable.
Across many cultures and faiths, the notion of respect for parents and compassionate care for the elderly resonates as a universal principle, deeply rooted in the spiritual fabric of human society.
Around the world, many Salvation Army territories offer residential care to older people as a direct service provision, usually when individuals are no longer able to look after themselves.
In some countries, we are one of only a handful of organisations offering residential care services to an often vulnerable group of people.
For instance, in Zimbabwe, The Salvation Army provides round-the-clock care to older people in three residential homes, and aims to adapt the care given depending on each resident’s individual needs.
