PIH Hurricane Matthew Response in Haiti

Patients and visitors gather outside the emergency department at University Hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti.

Since the earthquake that struck Haiti almost 10 years ago, Partners In Health has continued building and strengthening the health care systems needed to respond to emergencies and crises--in addition to every day care and services. With your support, PIH was prepared to care for the thousands of people impacted by Hurricane Matthew and beyond.   Today, we are using those same emergency response mechanisms to respond to the latest crisis inflicting the country.  The letter below from our CEO, Dr. Sheila Davis, explains:

I’m reaching out to share with you an update on the ongoing crisis in Haiti, and what PIH is doing to make sure health care continues to reach every patient in need.

The protest movement that began last summer has escalated to massive demonstrations over the last six weeks. Throughout the country, hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to protest the devaluation of local currency, high inflation (20 percent), and the alleged misuse of billions of dollars meant for social programs and infrastructure investments.

Protesters are demanding that President Jovenel Moïse step down and for a transitional government to assume power until new elections are held. President Moïse has so far refused to do so, further inflaming the protest.

Unofficial estimates say over 200 people have been injured and 20+ killed. It is impossible to predict when demonstrations will end, but movement leaders are vowing to maintain an “unlimited mobilization.”

The team at Zanmi Lasante is displaying extraordinary courage and shown incredible dedication amidst the strife, even over concerns for their personal safety. With gas stations running dry, grocery shelves emptied, banks closed, and health facilities shuttered throughout the country, Zanmi Lasante has kept the doors open and the lights on in every single facility.

 As other hospitals shut down, more people are traveling to our facilities to seek urgent care. The hospital we support in St. Marc delivered 720 babies last month -- a 144 percent increase over the same period last year. While we’re proud to stand as a safety net for the entire Haitian health system, we know that many more mothers are unable to find a safe place to give birth as this crisis escalates.

 Staff are scrambling to secure fuel for generators, dodging stones and tear gas—all to care for each other and our patients, many of whom struggle to meet their most basic needs on a good day. If PIH was founded on the idea of providing care that prioritizes the needs of the poor, then our colleagues are exemplifying the best of PIH. But they are in urgent need of fuel, food for patients and themselves, and basic supplies.

Thank you for your support, which enables us to provide hope and health care to those most in need. 

Photo: Doctors and medical staff share notes during morning shift change in the emergency department at University Hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti, in February 2018.

Thank you for your support of Partners In Health’s Hurricane Matthew response efforts in Haiti. 

As you know, both the devastating earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 underscored Haiti’s dire need for trained emergency care physicians.

These two severe natural disasters highlighted that low-and –middle-income countries needed tremendous improvement in combating both infectious and non-communicable diseases in addition to traumatic injuries.

Partners In Health, in conjunction with Haiti’s Ministry of Health, decided to tackle the task of boosting the number of Haiti’s emergency care physicians by developing a six-month program that would quickly train doctors and equip them with the knowledge and tools to be prepared to assist in current and future emergencies.

Haiti’s growing network of emergency doctors is rooted in the innovative six-month program that has pioneered emergency medical training in the Caribbean nation, paved the way for Haiti’s ongoing expansion of lifesaving critical care, and created a model for filling a severe gap in care found in developing countries around the world.

Dr. Rouhani, Partners In Health senior adviser for clinical operations, said she and colleagues in Haiti developed the six-month training program in the years immediately following that disaster, at a time “when there was no in-country emergency care capacity.”

The group developed and implemented a six-month emergency medicine training program, designed to provide substantive instruction and experience in an efficient timeframe to boost staffing for emergency care. Fourteen physicians from across Haiti joined the program, held from March to August 2014, and received classroom instruction as well as supervised clinical time at the University of Mirebalais.

The International Journal of Emergency Medicine published results of the program in April 2018, in a study titled: “Addressing the Immediate Need for Emergency Providers in Resource-Limited Settings: the Model of a Six-Month Emergency Medicine Curriculum in Haiti.” The program addressed a well-known but hard-to-tackle problem: Short, quick trainings of a week or two helped meet immediate needs for some emergency and critical skills, but did not give doctors enough hands-on experience or expertise to manage the breadth of emergency care needs. Meanwhile, multi-year residency programs trained highly skilled specialists, but took too long to fill immediate demands and gaps in care.

The program’s effectiveness continues to resonate today, as the six-month training led to a three-year emergency medicine residency program at University Hospital. The program is thriving, and remains the only emergency medicine residency in Haiti.

The six-month training program could lead to success stories in other countries, as well, as a model for filling vital gaps in emergency care.

In Haiti, a country often devastated by the effects of natural disasters such as hurricanes, any increase in the number of emergency physicians is crucial. Programs like the one listed above aims to saves lives by equipping a network of readily trained physicians who serve as Haiti’s first responders in combating infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases and injuries. Your support to Partners In Health makes all the difference. Thank you.