With the needs of the people of earthquake-stricken Haiti becoming clearer and more numerous, and with tens of thousands still without food, water, shelter and medical care, a group of physicians, nurses, physician assistants and volunteers from New Hanover Regional Medical Center today boarded a flight to Haiti to help set up and supply a hospital to care for the injured. The hospital, located in Caphatien about 80 miles north of Port-au-Prince, was built by a British mission group but without supplies or equipment has been unable to render aid.
“Our goal there is to provide supplies and equipment for this hospital,” says Dr. Ken White, a Wilmington plastic surgeon and one of the trip’s organizers. “Since we have limited time there, we are going to focus on making sure the staff of the hospital is able to treat their injured after we leave.”
New Hanover Regional Medical Center, along with Columbus Regional Healthcare and Wilmington SurgCare, has donated extensive supplies for this effort. Items donated range from IV solutions and splinting supplies to personal protection items and surgical supplies. NHRMC alone is donating close to $5,000 worth of materials.
“We just don’t know what to expect,” says Dr. White. “Things could go wrong at any point, but we are lucky that everything so far has come together to allow us to do this. It is a blessing to be able to go.”
Volunteers from NHRMC include: Dr. Ken White, Dr. Bill Sutton, Dr. John O’Malley, Dr. Ted Winneberger, Dr. Peter Kramer, Dr. Sara Collins, Dr. Bill Buchanan, Dr. Scott Visser and Bernie Medeiros. Other volunteers include Dr. Hugh Daniel, Stephanie Kochanski, Janice Corbett, Bob Townsend, Laird Dunlop, Brenda Cox, David Lensch, Jack Phillips, Randy Kirby, Jim Oles, Stephanie Tucker and Joshua Tucker.
