A Match Made in Haiti
In early March of 2010, Boston’s Community Medical Group (BCMG) was
contacted by St. Boniface Hospital, in Fond des Blancs, Haiti. The
twenty-eight bed hospital had just accepted sixteen newly spinal
cord–injured patients, some with traumatic brain injuries, as a result
of the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12th. Initially
treated aboard the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort, these
patients were then transferred to St. Boniface, the only Haitian
hospital able to accept them. St. Boniface has a longstanding
relationship with Healing Hands for Haiti, a nonprofit organization
familiar with BCMG’s decades of experience in sustaining the lives of
spinal cord injury patients in the greater Boston area. Upon learning
of BCMG, staff at St. Boniface hospital contacted us for assistance.
Recognizing this urgent need, a team of BCMG physicians, nurse
practitioners, physical and occupational therapists, and behavioral
health specialists have volunteered to travel to St. Boniface from June
19-June 25, 2010 to help care for these injured patients by providing
assessment and care, staff training, and the delivery of specialized
equipment and supplies. Our goals for this initial trip are quite
specific:
- Impart our specialized model and expertise for keeping spinal
cord-injured individuals as healthy as possible, through aggressive
early intervention, interdisciplinary treatment, and patient/caregiver
involvement
- Teach maintenance regimens for the care of quadriplegics and paraplegics to medical staff, patients, and their caregivers
- Establish a sustaining relationship with St. Boniface, involving
ongoing consultation, delivery of vital medicines and durable medical
equipment, and the upgrade of the hospital’s patient-assessment,
wound-care, and medical record–keeping skills and standards
In order for BCMG to send these volunteer health professionals on
this mission and to honor our commitment to provide on going help to
St. Boniface and its spinal cord–injured patients, we need to raise
approximately $20,000 by June 19th. If you would like to join our
effort by making a tax deductible charitable contribution you may
donate on line via PayPal’s secure website. Donations by check can be
made payable to Boston’s Community Medical Group and mailed to:1 BMC
Place, Dowling North, Suite 5108, Boston, MA 02118.
To learn more about St. Boniface Hospital, the St. Boniface
Foundation, and Healing Hands for Haiti, please visit their websites.
www.haitihealth.org
www.crs.org/haiti/st-boniface
www.healinghandsforhaiti.org
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