Help Haiti's first line response to Covid-19

We want to share some information that came from Fr Rick Frechette earlier last month.

From May 1 to July 31, 2021 our medical team had opportunity to be of help to nearly 1,200 patients with acute, severe respiratory illness, at St Luke Hospital.

COVID testing is not widespread in Haiti, nor do results come back fast (sometimes after discharge or death), but we share the experience of others that the vast majority of those tested were shown to be COVID positive.
We all witnessed first hand that the people coming in during this wave, were even sicker than the first wave.
Our oxygen demand was higher because often we needed two tanks per person:
15 liters per minute by mask and 6 liters per minute by nasal cannula.
We were very fortunate to have received a generous supply of the antiviral medicine Remdesivir, which gave good results to those who came early on in their sickness.

We were also able, just prior to this wave and also currently, to get vaccinations for all staff who would like to be vaccinated.
The current vaccination campaign, led by St Damien Hospital and some other designated centers, is not just for medical staff, but offered to the public.

We have gone down presently from a long stretch of 105 bed occupancy, to the current 30 patients.

We are grateful to the whole courageous staff for the dedicated 24/7 care in spite of many challenges.

But we do also want to thank all of your for your spectacular support.

With your help we are able to run what amounts to an additional hospital on the St Luke Hospital compound, for these months and into the future, albeit at present at 30% capacity.

Because of your support, we are able to manage all extra staff, all the PPE materials needed, all the medicines, all the oxygen.

But also thanks to many of you, we have:

-increased the number of our oxygen tanks by 400,
-increased our bedside oxygen concentrators by 100,
-increased our oxygen producing capacity by 50 tanks per day (and will be able to increase even more),
-and we have been able to upgrade the industrial size generators and solar system that run the hospitals.

It is truly a marvel, when you consider the many stresses here in Haiti, which during this wave also included, very shockingly and sadly, the assassination of the President (and the earthquake that struck the West on August 14 ndr).

We have done, and will continue to do, our best to meet the challenges. Please keep supporting our work.

Dear NPH friends and family,

We have rapidly risen to 115 COVID beds, all full. We are totally saturated.

We announced publicly we cannot receive any more patients until further notice.

Many people are dying on arrival in ambulances, that could find no center to take them.

Here is a huge blow to our ability to meet our emergency budget: we will be paying 80% more for oxygen starting today.

It seems world markets have driven prices up. We will likely pay $22 per refill instead of $12.

With 115 patients, about 100 need oxygen from tanks and the rest from bedside oxygen concentrators.

We produce oxygen, but only 40 tanks per day for ICU and ER- we cannot divert these tanks to COVID.

The price increase could not have happened at a worse time.
We can either reduce the hospital, or double the fundraising.
The first option is not humane, and the second is not at all easy.

We trust, as always, that our friends all over the world will help us meet the challenges.

You are well aware in your own neighborhoods of the tragic effects of this illness.

Thanks to all of you who have given in a small or mighty way to our oxygen appeal.

Thanks for any more you might be able to do, as we face both high volumes and price increases as mentioned.

We so appreciate your friendship, solidarity, help, as we do our best to carry on.

Fr Rick Frechette CP DO
Port au Prince, June 1 2021