Message to Our Friends
hospital courtyard on a day immediately following the January 12th earthquake
As we approach the anniversary of the January 12th earthquake, the board members of the Haitian Health and Education Foundation would like to share the ways in which the Haitian Community Hospital (HCH) experienced and survived many of this year’s events.
The year 2009 was a fairly good year for the nation – most people were feeling hopeful about social and economic improvements; the country had suffered no hurricanes; agricultural products were plentiful; and there were no political or social crises.
On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, these positive feelings came abruptly to an end. Several cities, including the capital, experienced the destruction of at least half of their structures and, horrifically, the deaths of more than a hundred thousand citizens. The largest buildings were the most affected: churches, schools, multiple-story apartment homes, hospitals, and government buildings, including the national palace. Large buildings collapsed while many schools were still in session and while people were working. In many instances, hundreds of people, including children, died all at once.
Life will never be the same in Port-au-Prince.
The Haitian Community Hospital is located three kilometers from the Pétion-Ville center. Pétion-Ville, a suburb of Port-au-prince, is approximately six kilometers away from the capital. Years ago, Pétion-Ville was primarily a residential area, but in the past twenty years it has developed a sizable business district. Fortunately, Pétion-Ville was not affected as much as other areas by the earthquake, and the hospital itself was not damaged.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010: Fifteen minutes after the earthquake, patients started to be rushed to the emergency room at the HCH. Neighbors and family members rushed the injured in their arms or in wheelbarrows; cars transporting the wounded started speeding dangerously in the yard. At one point, hundreds of people were crowded in the hospital yard. The emergency room personnel were overwhelmed. Several doctors living or working in the neighborhood came to help, including two orthopedist employed at HCH. Others with no medical qualifications also appeared to help with the transport of patients, general logistics, as well as the identification of the most urgent cases. The HCH’s General Director, the Medical Director and a few board members were in a meeting at HCH when the earthquake occurred, so they were immediately available to help manage the multitude of unexpected situations. The doctors who were present the night of the earthquake worked non-stop until the arrival of Dr. Scott Nelson, an American surgeon who left his service in the Dominican Republic, to arrive at HCH on January 14th late at night. The next day Dr. Pereira and Dr. Jocelyne David, two Haitian-American physicians, arrived by a special flight from Miami, accompanied by an American colleague. A team from the US Virgin Islands arrived in Haïti with supplies, and met up with individuals heading to HCH. Friday morning, January 15th, our stock of disinfectant was desperately depleting when the first truck of supplies from the Dominican Republic arrived with Betadine!
After these four critical days, help from all over the world arrived daily in the form of goods and human resources, as unpredictably as the patients – those suffering from earthquake traumas, women in labor, stroke victims, etc…
In the following days, we learned that a relative of a board member had created a Website for HCH. Medication, supplies and money were being collected in Florida through the aid of the website.
At one point, we had six operating rooms working day and night. Our hospital normally has two operating rooms, so space was converted to operate. No space had a definitive designation, and most of the hospital was becoming post-op, including the nursery.
For three months after January 12th, emergency situations of all kinds were occurring because the country’s basic facilities were destroyed, for instance the seaport and the airport. Our usual avenues for acquiring supplies were shut down at a time of intense consumption. Our routines, and our daily plans, could never adequately address the rapidly developing needs that presented themselves. Although we attempted to plan for the day’s activities each morning, we could never fully anticipate all the crises and scenarios that would eventually unfold.
Often, donated supplies would appear almost out of nowhere by truck, and our volunteer teams would rush them to the storage rooms, and there were no documents indicating the supplies’ origins.
Because of medical volunteers and donations from around the world, we were able to provide care to more than 10,000 individuals at the hospital. For a three-month span, all fees at the hospital were suspended, and regardless of the ailment or type of consultation received, patients were not charged.
It was a time of crisis and everyone was doing his or her best. So many people came to offer their services. To see so many come to our assistance was what soothed the pain we were experiencing and witnessing.
We have so many people to thank, individuals and organizations, and we do not have a complete list of these generous donors!
April 12, 2010: Three months after the earthquake, the hospital began to reinstate many of its normal administrative policies and routines. For thirty years, HCH has provided medical care to the general Haitian population at fees that are a fraction of the cost of other private institutions. These fees were reinstated; however, earthquake victims, whatever the duration of their hospital stays did not pay. During the acute crisis, a few doctors started a non-trauma, outpatient clinic outside of the main building. Consultation in the outpatient clinic continues to be free-of-charge. With funds collected for the purpose of running this free-clinic, many patients have been able to obtain free medical tests and drugs, and some women have given birth at no cost.
After the massive influx of people and activity following the earthquake, the hospital was in disarray. Gradually, evidence of the clean-up efforts could be seen. By the end of the summer, most of the facility was restored to its original condition.
End of October 2010: Cholera was detected in the central part of Haïti. This outbreak is not directly related to the January earthquake. The epidemic extended to northern and southern regions of Haïti in one month. By mid-November, cases were identified near Port-au-Prince.
HCH became the main Pétion-Ville care center for cholera in a network put in place by the Public Health Department and its partner organizations. A tent hospital, a significant distance from the main building, has been receiving cholera patients since November 17th. We noticed, sadly, that the occupied hospital beds as well as the numbers served in the outpatient clinic has decreased significantly since it has been publicly announced that HCH is a cholera care center…
Some individuals who helped during the acute crisis have maintained contact to assist patients within the institution or to assist in the hospital’s development.
In October, a Swedish organization named Star of Hope donated quality, modern operating room equipment. A surgeon, who had volunteered at the hospital during the crisis, along with three technicians came to install the equipment. They left spare parts for the equipment, and they brought specialized wheelchairs, hospital beds, and a stock of cholera vaccines to protect the hospital staff.
The Global Therapy Group, a group organized by two American physiotherapists, has recruited volunteer physiotherapists from April 5, 2010 to the end of this year to provide rehabilitative services. Under a temporary cover, the therapists provide care daily to outpatients and hospitalized patients. Their work is a real blessing; we have been able to witness the positive impact on the patients’ functioning and morale!
Our hope is to offer better working conditions for the Global Therapy Group’s dedicated caregivers. Star of Hope has promised to replace the temporary cover under which Global Therapy works with one of exceptional quality. We need an architect to integrate this structure in the hospital’s existing construction. We are in the process of making plans to permanently incorporate rehabilitation services at HCH. Some steps towards that goal will be made in the near future and others involve long range planning. Sherbrooke University (Quebec, Canada), Quisqueya University (Port-au-Prince, Haïti), Star of Hope, and Global Therapy Group are planning to contribute to the plans to bring permanent rehabilitation services to HCH.
We want you to know that our hearts are warm with gratitude for those who helped HCH when the national situation was so critical and for those who are continuing to help HCH to recover and to progress.
The Foundation aims to offer quality medical care to all levels of our society. For many years, the fund raising was mostly local. After Gonaïves was flooded in the 2006, the Southern Command of the US Navy desired to create emergency rooms in Haïti. After visiting several hospitals, HCH was their first choice. The Foundation agreed to offer an unfinished new section measuring 2,160 square feet for the operating room. In the end, the Southern Command of the US Navy, converted the space into an emergency room, intensive care unity, x-ray facility, and blood bank, all connected to a functioning surgical block. The Pétion-Ville Rotary Club also collected money to equip this new section. The Dr. Michel Carvonis Foundation gave $15,000 US as well. The Haitian Resource Foundation trained our personnel in the use of the equipment. This new section of the hospital was inaugurated in May 2009. God knows, and we recognize, how crucial the development of this space was to our ability to respond to the catastrophic period following the earthquake.
We are deeply happy to send our thanks and our good wishes, and we offer our prayers to all the men and women of goodwill who assisted us in ways that permitted us to help so many others and save lives.
