LLU President Visits Hopital Adventiste

The following update was written by Richard Hart, MD, President of Loma Linda University and was republished here with permission.  Dr Hart and his team visited Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti last month.

As I write, we have just lifted off from the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. My mind is still decompressing from the incredible images that linger. From multistoried pancaked buildings that still harbor the remains of hundreds, to the mass of debris and garbage that plug the streets and sewers, to the traffic jams and mass of humanity trying to remake their lives, it is truly overwhelming. Yet amid all this, the indomitable spirit of the Haitian people is already rising again, with streetside vendors reoccupying their favorite spots, muddy markets full of local fruits and vegetables, and life starting to return to whatever normal was.

Loma Linda has been involved with Haiti for many years. As the Polyclinique in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Diquini flourished in the 1970s, the dream to build a hospital took shape and resulted in the current 70-bed structure being completed in 1981. With a growing number of Adventist physicians and others graduating from Haitian universities, LLU agreed to offer an off-campus master's of public health degree in the 1980s. Nearly 50 Haitians took their master's degree in public health in this program, populating the church and government with qualified professionals. The Universite Adventiste d'Haiti was also growing. This led to dreams of collaboration to develop an academic health science complex together.

When Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti officially joined Adventist Health International in 2001, this planning intensified, starting with collaboration on a nursing program. But for every step forward, there seemed to be struggles. In 2005, after massive floods devastated the country, the International Behavioral Health Trauma Team from Loma Linda trained 50 mental health professionals in Haiti in psychological first aid. All this infrastructure and involvement was already in place when the earthquake of January 12, 2010, struck the capital and surrounding areas.

Right after the earthquake, our team in Loma Linda began scanning the view of Port-au-Prince on GeoEye, looking for signs of damage and activity at our hospital. Amazingly, from this satellite in the sky, the first reassurance came that the hospital still stood and was already serving thousands. Blue tarps could be seen stretched across the grounds beside the hospital, mixed with tents and makeshift shelters, providing a place for surgery to be performed, fractures to be stabilized, and 400 inpatients to be cared for daily. 

Though the hospital structure remained sound, the continuing aftershocks made most people afraid to be inside any building. Many alumni and others started calling Loma Linda to offer their help, and a system for processing these hundreds of volunteers was established, accompanied by shipments of vital equipment and supplies. We are now three months post quake, and the pace is slowing. Most acute patients are now inside the hospital, though still lining the halls and taking over any extra space.  The building has been determined to be safe, despite being only eighteen hundred meters from the epicenter of the quake. Containers of supplies are still being sorted, and temporary "One-Day Churches" from Maranatha are now housing supplies and patients.

Hundreds of volunteers, from all professions, have helped the hospital provide critical surgical and medical services, nursing care, infrastructure support, and numerous other tasks. Most stay in unfinished hospital rooms or tents on the roof, sleeping on cots or old mattresses. This is truly a cosmopolitan group, coming from many churches and organizations, ages and skills, states and countries, unified by their desire to truly make a difference in this tragedy. Seeing this group of 40 or 50 individuals sit on the front steps of the hospital each morning at 7:45, receive their assignments, pray together, and begin their day is a powerful example of the good in all of us.

Our local hospital staff quickly returned to work despite destroyed homes, lost family members, and stories of personal tragedy. Emilie Clotaire, hospital administrator; Lesly Archer, medical director; and Frantz Jean-Baptiste, the business manager, provided invaluable stability during this entire time, working through complex logistical issues, keeping food available, arranging security, coordinating trips to the airport, and many other daily tasks too numerous to recount. Some true heroes have emerged in this process. Scott Nelson, a 1996 graduate from our School of Medicine and one of our orthopedic faculty, was already working next door in the Dominican Republic. He quickly moved to Haiti and established an orthopedic service at the hospital. Assisted by many other volunteer surgeons, Scott quickly gained a reputation as an incredibly gifted surgeon and organizer, saving countless limbs and lives.

For the first several months he was assisted by Andrew Haglund from our School of Public Health, who coordinated the hundreds of volunteers, set up protocols, and kept order amid the chaos. Others have also been essential--Jerry Northrup came over from Guyana to help with critical repairs and maintenance; Brooke Beck, a young volunteer nurse, provided calm leadership through many daily crises. And the stories of untold heroes will be told in the lives and deeds of the countless thousands of patients who were touched and healed. Now we are starting to lay the foundation for the future. To quote one of our politicians, "a crisis is a terrible thing to waste." We must help rebuild this institution and nation. Our plans include expanding the hospital's orthopedic service to include the production and fitting of prostheses for the estimated 7,000 amputees created by the quake. We would also like to add a physical therapy training program at the university, the first in the country, to prepare for their ongoing needs.

Many of you have donated generously to help in this crisis. We sincerely thank you. Please visit our website as we keep you informed of progress and how you can continue to be involved. You may also view a trailer for an upcoming documentary, telling the story of Sebastien, a young boy rising from tragedy to face the future in Haiti.

Once again our faculty, staff, and alumni have made all of us proud of Loma Linda and what it stands for. May God's spirit continue to rest on the people of Haiti and all those who serve them in this difficult time.