Haiti Medical Mission
Haiti Medical Mission Spring 2013 trip is set for May 11-18.
We will hold rural mobile medical clinics, teach at FSIL, and work to rebuild housing in Leogane, Haiti. You do not need to be a medical person to go. Those wishing to join the trip should email Lisa Kerr Johnson at drj8@juno.com.
Task Force Background and Mission
The Medical Mission Task Force was established at First Presbyterian Church in 1999 in cooperation with the Medical Benevolence Foundation, the largest and oldest of the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly-validated mission support groups, to provide opportunities for members to carrry out Jesus Christ's commission to heal the sick. The Task Force chose Haiti as its focus because Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and its proximity to the U.S. makes travel relatively quick and inexpensive.
The Haiti Medical Mission's goal is not simply to deliver health care and related services, but also to empower and support Haitians to meet their own health care needs. Members are developing long-range, sustainable mission partnerships with the following organizations in Haiti:
- Hopital Ste. Croix (Holy Cross Hospital), Leogane, Haiti
- Faculte de Sciences Infirmieres de l'Universite Episcopale d'Haiti (School of Nursing, Episcopal University of Haiti), Leogane, Haiti
- Pazapa Center for Handicapped Children (www.pazapa.org), Jacmel, Haiti
How to Get Involved
The Haiti Medical Mission Task Force will meets in 2013 at 6:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of February, April, June, September, and November. Twice yearly trips for medical teams are announced on the website through the First Press church newsletter. Anyone interested in the work of the Task Force is invited to attend or request to get on our email circulation. For more information, please contact Lisa Kerr Johnson, chair, at drj8@juno.com or 734-665-8299.
To make a financial contribution, please designate your check to First Presbyterian Church, MMTF Fund, account #2705, and sent to:
First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor
1432 Washtenaw Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
To make a financial contribution for Earthquake relief, send a check to First Presbyterian Church with "Earthquake Relief" in the memo line.
An article by Jeanne Burger, just published in the Journal of Christian Nursing, about Haiti and the FSIL nursing school that members of First Presbyterian were instrumental in developing, is available at the link below. It describes Haiti and how the nursing students and graduates have been able to help Haitians respond to the earthquake and improve their health care. The descriptions of how Dean Hilda Alcindor has inspired the students to do this are inspiring to the reader. Members of First Presbyterian continue to be directly involved with the development of FSIL. First Presbyterian Ann Arbor continues to support efforts in Haiti with donations as well as personal and team visits.
The full article, “Positioned for Impact: Haiti’s First Baccalaureate Nursing Program” is available free until May 6 at the Journal of Christian Nursing.
Medical Mission Trip - May 12-19, 2012
Team Leader Report
Six MMTF team members traveled to Hopital Ste Croix (HSC), Leogane, Haiti on May 12, 2012 to provide mobile medical clinics, work at the hospital, and visit FSIL. Trip members include Lisa Kerr Johnson, PharmD, RN; Leader, Rudi Ansbacher, MD, Susan Engert, MD, John Macorkindale, Ilona Brustad and Stuart Berry. Our team of medical professionals was joined at HSC by Haitian dentist, Dr. Emmanuel, DDS, Dr Naomi, MD, 2 second year nursing students from FSIL, Milo, an agente Sante and on Friday a village Monatrice (nutrition worker) to make up our mobile clinic team.
We traveled to villages on Monday through Friday during the week and worked at HSC on Thursday in the hospital clinic system with our Haitian colleagues and counterpartsseeing patients. We provided medical care to 558 patients: 480 in mobile clinics, 35 dental patients and 43 patients at HSC. We treated 362 adults and 196 children. We referred 3 very sick children to HSC for further treatment at the hospital. We saw and treated a variety of medical conditions, including gastric distress, hypertension, asthma and infectious conditions among all. Vitamins and treatment for parasites was provided. A Haitian dentist 3 days during the week provided added value to our clinics for the patients. Our Haitian MD allowed us to see and treat more patients in the clinic setting. Lisa assisted Dr. Bellanger, the medical director with one surgery while at HSC on Thursday.
We visited the Ob Gyn clinic of Delson Merisier, MD and for the first time held one of our mobile clinics there at the site. Team members got to see how a typical Haitian MD works and his facility post earthquake, as well as his former home destroyed by the earthquake, now being rebuilt in early stages. Dr. Merisier has just been nominated to become the Leogane Health Commune Minister of Health and has accepted that appointment to be announced in the near future.
**To view the full report, read Haiti_Medical_Mission_Trip - May 2012 (pdf). You can also view more photos at haitimedicalmissiontripmay2012
