Planning for the future
It’s been over a month since our last update and I’m sure you are wondering what is happening at the hospital. I just returned and it is encouraging to see the Haitian administration and staff start to assume responsibility for the earthquake patients. There were 120 earthquake patients still at the hospital and our regular patient population has increased to 125 because of the awareness throughout the country of the many services available at HSC.
During the week I was there I was the only volunteer physician for 3 days and since I’m an ophthalmologist and haven’t done primary care in 30 years the Haitian internists and surgeons assumed responsibility for the patients. We instructed the volunteer nurses on the routine of contacting the Haitian physicians who all live on site and we also instituted an on call consultation format with a group of specialists in the US. So far this has been successful in maintaining quality of care but will be an ongoing process as the volunteers decrease in number.
The prosthetic lab is up and functioning and we fit our first 6 patients. Their smiles of joy brought tears to our eyes. As we continue to fit the more than 80 patients with amputations we are blessed with volunteer prosthetists who are actively training our Haitian staff in their skill.
Finally I’d like to share a story about our wonderful volunteers. The more than 1200 volunteers since January continue to provide excellent care to our patients as well as teach our staff. They pay their own travel expenses and take time from work resulting in lost income. However the most impressive thing I continue to notice is how they develop personal relationships with the patients and staff which leads to extraordinary acts of kindness.
At the last nightly meeting before I left I was told of a volunteer who recruited other volunteers and patients to go to the ICU and fix the hair and clean a young woman with a cervical spine injury who is paralyzed from the neck down. This poor woman has been in our ICU waiting for spinal surgery to stabilize her spine so she can be moved to a rehabilitation facility. It took 5 volunteers to stabilize her while a fellow patient cleaned and braided her hair. Other volunteers cleaned her legs and feet and massaged them with lotion. When they were finished they were rewarded with a beautiful smile from the patient that lit up the whole room. It was her first smile since arriving!!
As we continue to plan for the future we are trying to determine the total number of beds we can afford to maintain. We are also looking at the many infrastructure renovations and new construction that will be needed. The most recent estimate indicated that the cost will be around $2 million. Our board meeting is at the end of the month and will be a pivotal one for deciding our future. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we make these decisions.
Peter Kelly MD
President, Crudem/ Hopital Sacre Coeur
