Haiti Humanitarian Mission Update
February 1, 2010

During a Capitol news conference , Governor Rendell announced that Pennsylvania is ready to provide medical and humanitarian care for critically injured Haitian earthquake victims. HAP President and CEO Carolyn F. Scanlan participated in the news conference, and reiterated the hospital community’s support of this critical relief mission. HAP is working closely with the Department of Health to provide support and coordination for this humanitarian mission. HAP is continuing to survey hospitals to assess their interest in taking in patients airlifted from Haiti. In related news, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the activation of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), which will allow U.S. hospitals that treat Haitian earthquake victims to receive federal reimbursement for the costs they incur. Additional information was sent to members in HAP Memo 10-15 .

Hospitals wishing to contribute to the Haitian earthquake relief effort should register offers of support through the Center for International Disaster Information , which the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is using to coordinate efforts. Hospitals that wish to contribute major resources to the relief effort (medical teams, deployable hospitals, or general quantities of medical supplies) should contact the State Department and HHS .

If your hospital/health system makes a donation of time, money, supplies, or equipment, please notify both AHA and HAP of your efforts.

Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems that are already engaged in Haiti relief efforts include:

• A team of medical workers from Ephrata Hospital and Lancaster General Hospital traveled to Haiti with supplies donated by the hospitals.
  
  
• Doctors and nurses from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center traveled to Haiti to offer medical help.
  
  
• The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center orchestrated a rescue mission to bring 53 Haitian orphans to the United States and has donated supplies. Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC examined the children when they arrived in Pittsburgh.
  
  
• Medical personnel from UPMC and the West Penn Allegheny Health System , as well as a Heritage Valley Sewickley physician participated in that rescue mission and all have donated supplies.
  
  
• Excela Health was also a participant in the rescue of the orphans and has donated supplies.
  
  
• Two nurses from Allegheney General Hospital are traveling to Haiti and the hospital has donated medical supplies. Allegheny General Hospital also is treating a Haitian teenage boy brought back by one of its surgeons.
  
  
• Evangelical Community Hospital sent antibiotics and anesthetic ointments to Haiti with a medical team that included hospital staff.
  
  
• A PinnacleHealth nurse is part of a medical team heading on the first leg of a mission to treat victims.
  
  
• The chief medical officer for Holy Redeemer Hospital & Medical Center traveled to Haiti to provide medical care.
  
  
• Geisinger Health System routinely accumulates and organizes medical supply excesses for donation and is now holding these items for Haiti, and has made an organization donation to the American Red Cross.
  
  
• Global Health Ministry, a supportive health corporation of Catholic Health East , sent a team of health care professionals to provide medical assistance and supplies.
  
  
• Penn Medicine sent a medical team and supplies to provide care to victims of the earthquake. The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania also is treating patients from the Haitian earthquake through Partners in Health. 
  
  
• A Pocono Medical Center doctor is leading a medical relief mission to Haiti with supplies donated by the hospital and others.
  
  
• Monongahela Valley Hospital has donated medical items through Global Links and is serving as a drop-off point for community donations.
  
  
• Global Health at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia deployed a medical team to Haiti in response to an urgent call from Partners In Health for pediatric experts to care for children.
  
  

• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children are treating three Haitian children through Partners in Health.
  
  

• Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is treating a Haitian patient that was referred from a Florida hospital for spinal cord injury.
  
  

• A doctor from Pottstown Memorial Medical Center traveled to Haiti with donations from the medical staff and medical equipment donated by the hospital.
  
  

• An Indiana Regional Medical Center physician travels to Haiti with a Western Pennsylvania medical team to provide medical care to Haitians.
  

(This list reflects information we have received through media reports or direct contacts from Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems. If your organization's efforts are not listed, please understand we have probably not been advised of the initiative. Be sure to contact HAP, so that we can include the information on our website.)

Haiti Earthquake Relief Agencies and Contacts 2 Page(s) / 55.10 Kb - Download time approximately 0.5 secs on a 1.0 mb connection Adobe Acrobat - Download a viewer for this attachment - How to Download

• Haiti Update: Possible Activation of Federal Coordinating Center in Philadelphia
  HAP Memo
• Haiti Update: NDMS Activated; Hospitals Urged to Complete Availability Survey
  HAP Memo
• Potential Airlift of Haiti Patients to Pennsylvania Hospitals
  HAP Memo
• Potential Airlift of Haiti Patients to PA Trauma Centers
  HAP Memo