Finis

We continue to wonder if our efforts this week have made any difference; perhaps only for the short term, but we are hopeful that if this becomes a long term commitment that over time we can teach the Haitian staff at the Justinian hospital that there are other ways to provide healing. It doesn’t always have to hurt so bad as they go through the healing process.

Matt, Sam, and March took a trip to Milot this morning and visited the hospital, Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart). In some respects it was a bit depressing to realize that the Justinian Hospital has such a long way to go. Sacre Coeur has a charting process and a central supply system; documentation is clear and concise. They have 3 operating rooms with a PACU unit to monitor patients post operatively. In Cap Haitian patients are monitored for a short time outside of the OR and then they are either discharged home or sent back to the surgery ward. Sacre Couer is funded by outside sources (donations from Catholic Churches) while Justinian is a public facility with no funding to speak of. Clearly that makes a huge difference.

Matt returned to assist Dr. Pierre-Louis with an open tibia and fibula fracture on a dancer. She was injured in Port au Prince during the earthquake and originally was placed in an external fixation frame. With clean wounds, she was now ready for internal fixation (plate and screws). Dr. Louis took out bone graft from both hips to put into the fracture site to assist in the healing process. Like most cases here, it was filled with lots of challenges along the way. With no way to take an intraopertive x-ray to confirm adequate alignment, much of what is done is simply guesswork. Linda (aka angel of the OR) now is the person who the staff uses as a resource and she scrubbed the case from afar.

Marietta spent the morning in the wound clinic while Linda and Joanne rounded on the surgery ward changing pretty complicated wounds. Joanne had an interesting experience that she may share when we return home. Nothing today seemed straightforward. Large burns and multiple open lower leg wounds. For some reason it was particularly difficult emotionally.

March attended an English class that was held for the Haitian Physicians. Marietta and Joanne had a shorter day. They each had patients that “sucked them dry” today. They took a stroll to the market after their showers to purchase some items to bring back to family. Don’t worry Juliette we took care of your kids!

We split up for dinner; surgeons went out with the docs from the hospital and the nurses went out to a 'burger joint' with Nate Nickerson. There was a lot of debriefing and discussion about how to make this relationship grow for months and years to come. Konbit is a wonderful organization employing a thoughtful model of collaboration with the Haitien people. We now understand how critical it is for the people of Cap Haitien that this partnership succeed.