By Sergisson Milord
Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Healing Art Missions' Anesthesiologist, Dr. Patricia Jean-Baptiste and to ask her about her work. Dr. Jean-Baptiste is an extraordinary physician whose talent, dedication, and passion for excellence inspire her coworkers everyday.
How long have you worked at Healing Art Missions?
I have been with Healing Art Missions since July of 2022, so for one year.
What is the best part of your job?
It is difficult to pick out a "best" part because it is all part of a whole package—receiving the patient, following their journey while they are in the operating room, tracking reactions. Every patient you meet is different from the others as well. Some are easy, but others have complications that need to be managed. I suppose that the best part for me is seeing the patient again after the operation and knowing that they are healthy and progressing well.
What part of your job is challenging for you?
One of the most challenging aspects of the job is when we have to tell a patient that they cannot get a procedure that they want to have done, for whatever reason. Sometimes patients come to us and they don't understand that many surgical procedures require preparation ahead of time and they struggle to understand why they can't just have a surgery right now. We continuously work to try to educate patients about the steps that need to be done so we can minimize any disappointment.
How do you feel Healing Art Missions is making a difference?
A good example of this is Sainte-Thérèse Hospital in Miragoâne. Before Healing Art Missions arrived, the hospital was on the verge of closing its doors. They didn't have the staff or expertise to do many necessary operations. Now that Healing Art Missions is there, people are coming from far and wide for care. Patients are telling their friends and family about the surgery they had from Healing Art Missions and more and more people are coming to Sainte-Thérèse for our services.
There are many places in Haiti right now where people don't have access to healthcare and people are coming very far distances to get services from the Healing Art Missions' team. This has been very good for the community of Miragoâne.
Can you share an example of a person that you helped?
One case that I remember was a man who came in with a gunshot wound. The people who brought him to us initially wanted us to transfer him to another hospital—they didn't know about Healing Art Missions and the excellence of our surgical team.
We operated on the patient at Sainte-Thérèse Hospital. It was a complex operation and took a lot of time, but it was successful.
After that, word got around in Miragoâne that there were great doctors at Sainte-Thérèse Hospital again. We started seeing more and more serious surgical cases because people realized that they didn't have to risk traveling out of Miragoâne for quality care. We didn't ever have to do any marketing—word of mouth has been our marketing!
Is there anything about Haiti you'd like the people outside of Haiti to know or better understand?
Haiti is a place where people often have little means and a lot of misery, but still try to fight to live.
Right now, I think the absence of the government causes problems that make Haiti appear to be the worst place in the world. But it's not! Haiti has so much intellectual and economic potential that is just untapped. That's really sad.
Is there anything you'd like to say to the people who support Healing Art Missions?
Yes, first and foremost, thank you for your support. Thank you for helping people in need.
Thanks to your help, we can continue to help people. It's not easy to offer healthcare in Haiti right now and we often must do a lot with the little that we have. The more resources we have, the better care we can provide in terms of offering surgery, having the correct medicines on hand, and having usable equipment. With the right tools, we can help more people.
Medical providers, like Dr. Jean-Baptiste, have a significant impact on the lives of the Haitian people. Through her work, in collaboration with Dr. Jacques and the Mobile Medical Team, Healing Art Missions continues to be a trusted community partner to the communities of Miragoâne and Port Salut.