796
Surely the high point of this trip was the glorious and uplifting dedication of the rebuilt church in Chiraque. The everyday presence of that building means must be a continuous source of reassurance and comfort to the villagers. . .
. . .but we have planned several mobile medical events this year as well and, today, we conducted the second of three in Gebeau. Gebeau is on the outskirts of Jeremie and home to the Methodist clinic where we have worked in prior years. The clinic was badly damaged by Hurricane Matthew's high winds and flood waters. . .which rose 3 feet against its walls.
Much effort has been made to clean and repair the clinic but it hasn't reopened yet. But our team made use of the facility today and we had a crew of 3 Haitian Doctors and 3 Haitian nurses helping our usual ground crew of "roadies", drivers and translators. We prepare lunch for our crew, which today numbered around 25!
A long day, and as long a day as our mobile medical on Saturday in Chiraque. Over the two days, we've seen and treated 796 patients. . .probably more since things can get a little loose toward the end of the day, when some doctors (usually the one having U.S. privileges. . .) help secure meds from our pharmacy, bypassing our team's usually superb quality control discipline!
We pay everyone on our crew something for their time, but the market rates are low in Haiti. Between that, and the fact that many of our meds are donated by St. John's-Providence or St. Joseph-Mercy Pontiac, our out of pocket cost for providing these Doctor visits is somewhere between $2-3/patient.
Pound for pound, the Birmingham crew is "bringin' it". . .probably providing a whole lot better value, and delivered more quickly, when compared with the bigger boys involved in the disaster relief.
Hat's off to the Kellers, McClellands and Wilkinsons for pitching again this year, and hats off to the team's Head Coach, Nancy Smith, for the so-far successful mobile medical title defense. Tomorrow, we're off for our last mobile medical AND mobile dental event in Bois Neuf. It is a large village so we're going with FOUR Haitian Doctors and FOUR Haitian nurses, and we've laid in more, locally purchased meds to be sure we send everyone home with what they need/
. . .but we have planned several mobile medical events this year as well and, today, we conducted the second of three in Gebeau. Gebeau is on the outskirts of Jeremie and home to the Methodist clinic where we have worked in prior years. The clinic was badly damaged by Hurricane Matthew's high winds and flood waters. . .which rose 3 feet against its walls.
Much effort has been made to clean and repair the clinic but it hasn't reopened yet. But our team made use of the facility today and we had a crew of 3 Haitian Doctors and 3 Haitian nurses helping our usual ground crew of "roadies", drivers and translators. We prepare lunch for our crew, which today numbered around 25!
A long day, and as long a day as our mobile medical on Saturday in Chiraque. Over the two days, we've seen and treated 796 patients. . .probably more since things can get a little loose toward the end of the day, when some doctors (usually the one having U.S. privileges. . .) help secure meds from our pharmacy, bypassing our team's usually superb quality control discipline!
We pay everyone on our crew something for their time, but the market rates are low in Haiti. Between that, and the fact that many of our meds are donated by St. John's-Providence or St. Joseph-Mercy Pontiac, our out of pocket cost for providing these Doctor visits is somewhere between $2-3/patient.
Pound for pound, the Birmingham crew is "bringin' it". . .probably providing a whole lot better value, and delivered more quickly, when compared with the bigger boys involved in the disaster relief.
Hat's off to the Kellers, McClellands and Wilkinsons for pitching again this year, and hats off to the team's Head Coach, Nancy Smith, for the so-far successful mobile medical title defense. Tomorrow, we're off for our last mobile medical AND mobile dental event in Bois Neuf. It is a large village so we're going with FOUR Haitian Doctors and FOUR Haitian nurses, and we've laid in more, locally purchased meds to be sure we send everyone home with what they need/
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