|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
NCNWR > News > News Item | |
|
|
NewsHaiti: Congregation of the Humility of Mary
February 1, 2010 Latest update from Sr. Marie Vittetoe, CHM, who is receiving regular reports from Hospital Sacre Coeur, where she has spent many years developing their lab technologies. -----Original Message----- Received: Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:57:09 PM EST UPDATE JANUARY 31, 2010 I arrived home early yesterday morning but am still emotionally and mentally at Crudem Hopital Sacre Coeur. You would be proud and awestruck with the transformation that has taken place under such difficult circumstances. I will try and give you a picture of the status when I left and the future we face. As you read this summary remember that only 2 weeks ago we were a 64 bed hospital. The patient census the day I left was 228 and by the time I arrived home there had been 11 helicopters from Port au Prince and our census had increased to 270. Today we received another 12 helicopters and we are now over 300 patients. It appears that we are one of the few hospitals in Haiti that can care for the patients with complications that have occurred from lack of treatment for the past 2 weeks. The people arriving at our hospital are sicker than last week and require more intensive treatment. Our volunteer staff this week will be approaching 90 which is wonderful for the patients we serve but a strain on the Haitian staff. We are hiring part time staff to help relieve this strain. As you know from previous updates we were allowed to use 2 schools to house the patients and a triage/emergency area. The government closed all schools for 1 month so we need to evacuate these schools by Feb 17th when classes resume. Thanks to the efforts of Caritas Christi, the American association of Malta and the many phone calls made by knights of Malta such as Jim O'Connor we were given a portable hospital with beds for 300 patients. This has arrived in Cap Haitian and is being constructed on land loaned to us by the Mayor of Milot. We will be moving the patients from the schools into this hospital over the next 2 weeks. The number of volunteers needed will continue to be around 40 to 50 a week for the next month or 2. This is necessary to care for the increased patient population. Our list of people wanting to volunteer is in the hundreds despite the fact that it will cost them around $1000 in traveling costs not to mention lost income from work. What a wonderful testimony to the spirit of giving in our country. It is difficult to predict when all the patients that need care in Port au Prince will be transported to hospitals and the helicopters will cease. Our best estimate is that it will be another 2 or 3 weeks. At that point we will need to continue to care for the post op patients and the many infections but will also begin the rehabilitative care so many will require. Our orthopedic teams from Florida led by Dr John Lovejoy have already started to develop a program for prosthesis and physical therapy. As we look to the future we realize that our expansion plans will need to proceed quicker than we anticipated and our services will also need to expand. We have become a referral hospital for all of Haiti and as such will need to provide more specialized care. We have received donations of medical equipment from Philips and other companies that will allow us to provide this care. I urge you to continue to pray for the people of Haiti who have a long road ahead of them. I also ask you to remember all of our medical and nonmedical volunteers who are so selflessly giving. It will require a large commitment from all of Crudem's supporters to enable us to accomplish the goals before us. We will continue to provide regular updates and encourage you to visit our website for further information. Peter Kelly MD
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
For more information
about NCNWR, contact: Susan Oxley, NCNWR
Coordinator 525 Madison Street Burlington WI 53105 coordinator@ncnwr.org
HOME | WHO WE ARE | JOIN US | CONFERENCE | NEWS| CONTACT US| MEMBER LOGIN| PRIVACY POLICY/DISCLAIMER |
|
|
|
|
Debbi Della Porta