Fletcher Allen, a Vermont university hospital and medical center, serves all of
Vermont and the northern New York region. Located in Burlington, Fletcher Allen is a regional, academic healthcare center and teaching hospital in alliance with the University of Vermont.
Fletcher Allen Gives Back - Destination: Haiti
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| Courtney Walsh, R.N., and Jason Garbarino, R.N., in the Emergency Ward at Good Samaritan in Jimani. (Photo courtesy of Bill Charash, M.D.) |
Excerpt from March 29, 2010 edition of The Sun: a newsletter for the employees and friends of Fletcher Allen.
On January 20, a group of a dozen Vermont volunteers – doctors, nurses and other health care professionals from Fletcher Allen and elsewhere – arrived in the Dominican Republic (DR), ready to assist the victims of the massive earthquake that had struck its island neighbor of Haiti eight days earlier.
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| The scene in front of the Love a Child Orphanage in Jimani the morning after an aftershock caused the patients to quickly evacuate the building. (Photo courtesy of Bill Charash, M.D.) |
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| FACT EMT Brian Cunningham in front of the hospital in Jimani. (Photo courtesy of Bill Charash, M.D.) |
In addition, some Fletcher Allen staff have gone on their own: Nathan Crain, a medical assistant at Given Essex, traveled to DR immediately after the earthquake with a friend who works in the Peace Corps; coincidentally, they also landed in Jimani. Gastroenterologist Peter Moses, M.D., traveled to Port au Prince with his 83-year-old father, a retired infectious disease specialist who was determined to help in the relief effort; father and son had also traveled to Haiti together in 1983. Fletcher Allen donated thousands of dollars worth of medicine – mostly antibiotics – and medical supplies early in the Vermont effort.
Those employees who recently spoke to The Sun about their experiences in the relief effort talked of the chaos and the improvisation required to cobble together a functioning trauma hospital in a building that normally housed an eye clinic. They spoke of the unwavering dedication of their colleagues: the willingness to stretch to learn to do what was needed, of working long hours in overcrowded and understaffed facilities. While many found the larger aid effort disorganized, smaller groups such as those from Fletcher Allen were able to coordinate on a local level and make a difference in the lives of hundreds of Haitians.
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| A father holds his 14-month old child, critically ill with pneumonia, at Hospital de la Communaute Haitienne, a community hospital in Port au Prince. (Photo courtesy of Peter Moses, M.D.) |
The Vermont Haiti Project
The grass-roots, all-volunteer Vermont Haiti Project has worked for several years in partnership with Haitians to develop healthier communities and cultural exchange opportunities. The VHP board largely consists of Fletcher Allen staff: Donna Thomas, who volunteers with the Fletcher Allen chaplain’s office; Augusta Wilson, an outpatient and research nurse for Rheumatology/Osteoporosis; and Kimball Butler, a labor and delivery nurse. Ron Sweeten, a Nutrition Services line chef, has worked with Haiti programs for 20 years, and helped coordinate the group’s recent relief efforts from Vermont.
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| The Vermont Flag occupied a place of honor at the Good Samaritan trauma hospital in Jimani, alongside the Haitian, Dominican and U.S. flags. (Photo courtesy of Peter Gaillard, R.N.) |
The VHP has helped Haitians run a health clinic, school and water filtration program, and Kimball has returned twice since the earthquake to check on the status of their long-term work and the families they work with. She also became the on-site link connecting Vermont volunteers with the places and people she had come to know in order to fill the desperate need that existed during the first chaotic weeks after the quake. "VHP is truly all about developing relationships," she said. "Through those, we come to know and understand one another and our cultures."
Looking Ahead
Kimball says VHP would "love to find a way to maintain a long-term relationship with the Fletcher Allen employees who are going down as part of relief effort."
The Vermont Medical Response Team includes Vascular Access Nurse Educator Mari Cordes, who has joined with colleagues at Fletcher Allen, throughout Vermont and in other states and is working to develop an independent, long-term effort to keep the medical help flowing into Haiti. They hope to form a more permanent relationship with a facility there. She says she is still getting four to five e-mails a day from people who want to volunteer.
In Haiti, the need continues. The Jimani hospital has been disbanded, as the DR government moved Haitian refugees back into Haiti. The Port au Prince airport has reopened, and the most recent Vermont volunteers have moved on into Haiti.
"The Vermont Haiti Relief Team ... recently traveled to Haiti to help with the recovery. As a Vermonter and as an American, I could not be more proud of them and the lifesaving work they are doing." - Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, in a statement on the U.S. Senate floor
Fletcher Allen Haiti Volunteers:
The following Fletcher Allen staff have volunteered in the Haiti earthquake relief effort. If we have inadvertently omitted your name, please accept our apologies.
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Elizabeth Aldrich, R.N. |
Susana Knoop, R.N. Carol Koerner, R.N. Anthony Kopecky, P.A. Judith Line, L.P.N. Stephanie Lusk, R.N. Nancy McClellan, A.P.R.N. Candice Michaud-Costello, R.N. Lisa Middleton, R.N. Dan Newlun, R.N. Jeff Patterson, Paramedic Peter Moses, M.D. Charlotte Norris-Brown, R.N. Rosemary O’Connell, R.N. Christine O'Neill, P.A. Melinda Pariser, L.P.N. Terri Patrin, R.N. Noah Ponzio, R.N. Lori Preston, R.N. Mario Reyes, R.N. Richard Salerno, M.D. Jason Savoy, Paramedic Jacqueline Schlein, R.N. Charles Schmitt, M.D. Kim Schmitt, P.A. Robert Stafford, R.T. Deborah Wachtel, A.P.R.N. Courtney Walsh, R.N. Patrice Wassmann, R.N. Kathy Wright, R.N. |
To contribute to ongoing efforts in Haiti by Fletcher Allen staff:
Vermont Haiti Project
www.vermonthaitiproject.org
Vermont Medical Response Team
Make checks payable to UVM (Batey/Nurse) in memo line, mailed to VFNHP, 308 Pine St., Burlington VT 05401
