Jan. 20--The medical community in the Rio Grande Valley is joining forces
to establish an impromptu hospital next week in Haiti.
An initial group will leave next week and set up a hospital in a school
in the city of Cap-Haitien on the country's north coast, said Dr. Miguel
Cintron, a physician from Harlingen who is preparing for the trip.
The doctors, nurses, and medical technicians will work with Hope
International Medical Mission, a locally based organization that regularly
sends medical teams to Haiti and Nigeria, said Cintron.
"We were planning to go there this summer," Cintron said. "With this
disaster, we had to accelerate our plans."
Last week, a 7.0 earthquake on the Richter scale ravaged the nation of
Haiti. According to the Associated Press, approximately 200,000 have died,
250,000 have been injured and 1.5 million have been left homeless.
Hearing the news of the earthquake was a shocking experience for
volunteer Dr. Garry Souffrant, a Harlingen resident who moved from Haiti as a
teenager, but left behind family and friends.
"When I first heard the news about the earthquake, it was a shock to me
and my family," Souffrant said. "It's almost surreal, like you were watching a
movie. When you realize it is reality, you feel powerless. But then you
realize -- there are some things you can do to help."
As of press time Tuesday, Souffrant hadn't heard from his uncles, aunts,
cousins and nephews who live in Port-au-Prince, near the worst part of the
earthquake.
The hospital will be set up on the north side of the island in an area
not damaged by the earthquake, because officials have been moving the sick and
injured out of the damaged cities into safe areas, the doctor said.
"We were asked by officials from the city of Cape Haitian to set up
there," Cintron said. "They were not damaged by the quake, but they have few
facilities and their doctors are exhausted. So, we are mobilizing five groups
to go."
Hope International plans on rotating five separate teams of 20 volunteers
including doctors, nurses and technicians to man the makeshift hospital. After
the initial team has served one week and leaves, the next team will replace it
and so forth, creating a seamless transition, Cintron said.
"We are not sending anything by freight," he said. "We are taking it in
our hands. Instead of luggage, we are carrying it. The bottom line is that we
are only taking our personal toiletries and our scrubs. The rest of the space
we are using it to take medical equipment."
In previous trips the doctors were able to select the cases they would
take; however, this trip they are primarily preparing to deal with
emergencies.
In the past the group was funded solely through private donations, but
because of the immediate needs in Haiti, they have been forced to setup a
donation drive to help cover the $200,000 cost of the trip.
"Because of the current situation in Haiti, it will be very challenging
and expensive to fly our teams there and equip them -- costing up to $45,000
for a team of 20 medical people, and with five waves of teams going, the total
cost will be over $200,000," Cintron said. "In spite of those obstacles we are
determined to do what we can to help these people in their time of greatest
need. ... This is a very frugal effort. Every cent goes to Haiti; not one cent
will be used for administrative costs."
To help in the fundraising effort, Brownsville residents can help by
donating through the Web site www.RGVhelpshaiti.com or at various
drive-through donation booths that will be set up this weekend at both of the
city's hospitals.
Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville at 1040 W. Jefferson St. and
Valley Regional Medical Center at 100-A Alton Gloor Blvd. will host the drive
through locations on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
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