HAM’s medical Director, Dr. Jacques, continues to take the lead in working with HAM’s multiple partners on the ground in Haiti, including the Haitian Ministry of Health (MSPP). It appears that Dr. Jacques is a leader whom all of our partners trust and will listen to. HAM was the first NGO to reach Les Cayes, the largest city close to the epicenter, and as of August 22nd, Dr. Jacques reports we have a team of surgery and orthopedic residents in Les Cayes, rotating between different hospital and locations there including the MSSP’s General Hospital, Notre Dame Hospital, and Finca Lumière Hospital, as well as the MSPP facilities in Port-Salut.
The Banner displayed in front of the Hospitals where our teams are working.
The translation for the Banner is:
Response to the earthquake
Broken Bones
Injuries
Surgery
With so many logistical issues to address, coordinating supplies and medical staff, traveling on earthquake damaged and dangerous roads from Port-au-Prince to work in the Southwest, coordinating surgical teams working in several towns and hospitals, Dr. Jacques has hired Natacha Dorlean as our Project Manager. She is traveling to Les Cayes today where she will be located for a month. Ms. Dorlean has an MBA from the Inter American University Of Puerto Rico and has many years of professional experience in accounting and management working for corporations in Haiti. We are delighted to have Ms. Dorlean join our team and she will be of vital help working on the ground near the most affected areas.
Dr. Jacques has been extremely busy negotiating lodgings with the local Ministry of Health (MSPP), negotiating salaries, coordinating specialists and surgical residents and setting up transportation to get the team to Les Cayes & Nippes. In Les Cayes our team has been performing surgeries round the clock. One team of specialists at the Notre Dame Hospital in Les Cayes includes two orthopedic surgeons, one general surgeon and a PGY 4 general surgery resident, as well as two PGY 4 orthopedic residents and one wound care nurse. HAM has the first team of specialists who are performing orthopedic cases on earthquake victims in Nippes, where our team now consists of two orthopedic surgeons, one medical coordinator, and one wound care nurse, and three to four anesthetist nurses. We are ensuring the surgery services will continue to be available in MSPP General Hospital in Nippes, and the Hôpital Sainte Thérèse in Miragoâne, for at least three months.
Dr. Fontulme Junior (4th yr Ortho Resident), Dr. Jacques (Director HAM, Haiti), Dr. Romulus Edner Beethoven (4th yr Ortho Resident, HAM Resident Ambassador on the ground in Les Cayes)
We have been having some difficulty locating and negotiating for medical supplies in Haiti, especially external fixation devices used for orthopedic surgeries. It’s a complicated process that requires Dr. Jacques to work directly with the MSPP and other Haitian Ministries who control imports and prioritizing which groups are given priority to purchase limited supplies. He is currently trying to get HAM to the front of that line.
HAM’s team was the first from outside of the primary affected area to arrive on the scene and continues to lead the medical response on the ground. Dr. Jacques plans to spend time this week in Les Cayes and Miragoâne, so we should have more information soon.
Wound care nurse Juliette in action in Nippes MSPP Hospital