IMEC is in Haiti this week visiting numerous projects and partners and forging new relationships to help transform communities throughout the country. From meetings with US doctors with a personal passion to advance the care at hospitals they have long

supported, to faith-based groups serving multiple needs of hundreds of orphaned children, to dedicated humanitarian organizations building an innovative teaching facility of historic significance, our trip has been filled with people working hard to not just help, but to create sustainable solutions that produce results. We are honored by their partnership, and humbled by the work being accomplished on the ground.

Haitian Resource Development Foundation (HRDF)

Dr. Aldy Castor at HUEH

Like most of our trips to Haiti, this week begins with a meeting with Dr. Aldy Castor of the Haitian Resource Development Foundation (HRDF). An IMEC partner for over a decade, HRDF is a cornerstone of our work in Haiti. Together, we have upgraded dozens of hospitals and clinics, and our collective plan to transform emergency medicine throughout the country is currently in the works.

Partners in Health (PIH) – Mirebalais

Click here to view the embedded video.

We begin our week of site visits with a trip to a new 320 bed-teaching facility being constructed by our partners, Partners in Health (PIH). IMEC has been a strategic partner in this historic project from the beginning: devising equipment plans to meet the needs of the medical services to be provided, advising on the opening plan, providing IMEC Medical Suites to equip the entire facility, and managing logistics and shipping of construction materials from our 150,000 square foot facility in North Andover, MA. Since early 2010, tens of thousands of pieces of construction and medical equipment have been packed into thousands of IMEC Suites, dozens of groups have collaborated with us on shipping, logistics and equipment repair, and an immeasurable amount of dedication has poured from our staff and volunteers all in support of this amazing project. We were thrilled to visit our colleagues at PIH in Mirebalais and amazed by the progress that has been made on site since our last visit in May 2011. The PIH Mirebalais team is doing incredible work – their careful strategy and thoughtfulness for every detail is resulting in an amazing project and a soon-to-be incredible hospital that will make a substantial difference in health care in Haiti.

IMEC Beds ready for service in Mirebalais, Haiti

HUEH – Desperate Needs

Dr. Israelski and HUEH Medical Staff

Following our visit to Mirebalais, we had the honor of touring HUEH, a hospital in Port-au-Prince city center. Dr. Ron Israelski is a busy orthopedic surgeon from Orange County, NY, who has dedicated much of his time over the years to improving health care service at HUEH, a hospital desperately in need of equipment and supplies. IMEC has partnered with Dr. Isrealski in his effort to advance the care at HUEH by providing IMEC Medical Suites to the orthopedic surgery department. While at HEUH we had the opportunity to meet Dr. Beth Coffey, another US doctor who has selflessly given her time to patients in Haiti by treating TB patients in a tent on the HUEH campus. We are grateful to be able to serve both the orthopedic surgery and TB efforts at HUEH.

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Southern Department

Following our visits in Port-au-Prince, we travel several hours south to visit the Department du Sud, a region close to our heart and the home of HRDF. Numerous projects have been completed here over the years, and today we visit two partners with clinics currently under construction.

Surveying a New Project Site

A visit to Espwa is a humbling and uplifting experience. Over 600 resident children are surrounded by strong education, faith, nutrition and health programs, not to mention the dozens of caring individuals who build their lives around improving the lives of the children. We had the privilege to spend the day with Father Marc and the team that lives on site, as well as long-term supporters and drivers of the programs visiting from the US. IMEC and Espwa originally partnered to complete a new health clinic for the children. The clinic is almost near completion and IMEC Medical Suites will arrive soon, allowing the medical staff to begin working the beautiful new space optimized to provide the excellent care for the children. During our visit, the need for our long term partnership was realized, and we look forward to a future of supporting Espwa’s ever expanding services, including vocational training, dining halls and farm programs.

Construction underway in Les Cayes

Our next stop is a new construction project being completed in collaboration with our partners Forward in Health (FIH). The new clinic is located in an area desperately in need of clinic care, and we were glad to see dozens of workers on site working hard to put up walls. IMEC’s contribution to this project is multi-purpose: lending our expertise to the facility’s construction and layout to improve patient flow for the clinic, creating equipment plans and providing the IMEC Medical Suites to meet the entire clinic’s equipment needs.

Following visits to our new projects, we stop to check in on a project we completed at Immacule Concepcion Hopital in 2011. Immacule Concepcion is a large referral hospital in Les Cayes, Haiti. The largest hospital in the Southern Department, its services were in desperate need of an upgrade when IMEC completed a project there last year. We were pleased to see the new maternity ward under construction, and happy to visit with our friends on the medical staff and in administration who work tirelessly to serve the community of Les Cayes. While at Immacule Concecion we also met with our colleagues from the Global Heath Division of Dartmouth University, whom IMEC will collaborate with on their TB Outreach program in Les Cayes in 2012.

Our final leg of the trip brought us back to Port-au-Prince where we meet about the construction of a new 200-bed hospital in one of the city’s most devastated neighborhoods. IMEC will be a substantial partner in this important project set to begin in March 2012.

We end the trip by giving thanks for a busy week filled with great visits and numerous new opportunities to serve.

IMEC Visit to Espwa

 

The IMEC/CRMF project transformed the delivery room of the hospital into a “delivery suite” with ultrasounds, dopplers, infant warmers, delivery beds and other life saving equipment and supplies. Because of the new equipment, the hospital expanded the delivery room into a new area, allowing more space for additional patients. Labor Beds were immediately put to use. Emergency carts to treat hemorrhages, the leading cause of death of maternal patients in Madagascar, were assembled for use. The hospital received its first infant warmers to treat its newborn patients. Doctors and midwives immediately began training on ultrasounds and dopplers to listen to the babies’ heart beats.

CRMF not only collaborated with IMEC to deliver these purposefully selected medical equipment suites, but to provide postpartum emergency training to doctors and midwives Ankirihiry Hospital. With the training and equipment now in place, the doctors and midwives at the hospital are now well prepared to serve their patients, and to reduce maternal and infant deaths in the region.

The video below shows equipment from IMEC medical equipment in use at Ankirihiry Hospital:

On Friday, October 21, 2011, IMEC hosted its first annual National Physical Therapy Month Day of Service.  The event was sponsored by Boston Brace, and brought together DPT students from area schools including UMass Lowell DPT Program and Mass General Institute for Health Professions.  The students came together at IMEC to volunteer their time to help doctors, nurses and physical therapists in Tanzania.

The volunteer group  built 3 IMEC Pediatric Physical Therapy Suites, one of over 40 kinds of Medical Suites that IMEC builds and sends to impoverished hospitals and clinics in developing countries around the world.  The Pediatric Physical Therapy Suites contains everything a physical therapist needs to work with a pediatric patient in a rural clinic in Africa.  The Pediatric Physical Therapy Suites will be added to dozens of other Medical Suites headed to clinics in Tanzania in partnership with Mwangaza Kwa Wenye Ulemava (The Beacon for Those with Disabilities).

The DPT students hand picked the materials from IMEC’s 150,000 square foot facility, cleaned each piece of equipment, ensured that each piece is in working order and carefully packaged it into Suites.  IMEC is grateful for the dedication of these students who packaged the Suites with a great amount of care and respect for the clinicians who will receive the equipment in Tanzania.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Corrine Dodge, a talented seamstress and one of IMEC’s weekly volunteers, rose to the challenge when asked to help with a project in Mirebalais, Haiti. 

IMEC is working in collaboration with Partners in Health (PIH) to equip a 300 bed facility being constructed by PIH in Mirebalais, Haiti.  Over 1,200 IMEC Suites will be distributed to the hospital as we equip all services ranging from administrative offices to surgery to the neonatal intensive care unit.  Each service area that we equip will contain dozens of IMEC Suites, and each Suite contains dozens of pieces of equipment, materials and details.  Every detail is considered carefully as we prepare the project.

Corrine with the finished product.

A project detail that was met with great IMEC volunteer effort is how to iron all the hospital linen that a 300-bed hospital produces.  To accommodate the ironing that will be completed on site, large, specially selected tables will be used in place of a traditional ironing board.  Like an ironing board, these tables need a cloth cover.

When Corrine learned about the need for ironing table covers, she jumped at the opportunity to serve the workers of Mirebalais Hospital through her seamstress skills.  Corrine volunteered to design the covers and sew material into high-quality, customized ironing table covers.  For several weeks Corrine generously spent her time shopping for materials, volunteering extra days at IMEC and even working on the covers at home in the evenings.  She designed them to fit the tables exactly, inserted drawstrings to allow them to be tightened, and sewed a layer of padding to be placed between the cover and the table – just like a traditional ironing board cover.

Corrine wanted to send a message to the workers in Haiti to wish them well as they open their new hospital.  Knowing that her message might not be understood if she sent it in English, Corrine spent the last evening of her project researching Haitian Creole translations online and sewed a personal message  – in Creole – into each ironing table cover.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you do your work each day."

 The amount of care and thoughtfulness that went into this one project detail happened only because Corrine has made a commitment to serve those who need her help.  IMEC is grateful for our many volunteers like Corrine who dedicate themselves to serving the poor with respect and integrity. Because of our devoted volunteers, this level of care and attention goes into every detail of every project we complete.

Corrine’s ironing table covers are one of thousands of items being sent to Mirebalais – all of them touched by our volunteers.  Multiplying Corrine’s effort by thousands equals an amazing amount of care, attention and respect being sent from the people behind IMEC’s doors to the people at the facilities we serve.

Located in South Asia, Nepal’s Gorkha district is home to a population that earns less than $1.00 per day. With almost no access to medical care and a life expectancy of less than 60 years, the Gorkha Foundation , in partnership with IMEC, is working to deliver sustainable solutions to the district’s existing medical infrastructure. A variety of equipment and supplies have been provided, including patient rooms, exam room suites, pediatric suites, general supplies, physical therapy suites and surgical equipment. Now with the much needed medical equipment and supplies delivered, the well-trained staff of doctors and nurses at Gorkha’s Amppial Hospital are now able to provide their community with the medical care they so desperately need.

“IMEC’s support at Amppipal Hospital has been tremendous. IMEC has continued to send medical equipment, tools and supplies needed to raise the standard of health care in the Gorkha region.”

Bijaya Devkota, Gorkha Foundation

Gaspa Garcia Laviana Hospital was in dire condition when IMEC, working with Rotary Clubs from, NH, VT and the host club in Grenada, began this project. Backlog of surgical cases were 6-9 months long and patients were dying from medical equipment failures. Between 2006 and 2009, IMEC shipped a total of four 40’ containers carrying donated medical equipment and supplies. The success of the first shipment resulted in a $1M grant from the national government to rehabilitate the surgical wing of GGLH. IMEC provided 4 complete functional operating rooms for the new wing. Once complete, the new wing attracted surgical teams from the US and Europe, bolstering GGLH’s reputation as a teaching hospital, which has helped ensure its economic stability, and allowed the quality of care to be continually improved.

“The transformation that has taken place in the hospital’s surgical wing is truly remarkable. From what I saw, I would have to believe, that this new facility would now place among the best in the country. It is our hope that this new facility will serve the next generation of Nicaraguans in peace and prosperity, continue to improve the quality of life for the people living in Rivas and most importantly, save lives.”

Macy Lawrence, Woodstock, VT USA Rotary Club

Located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the community of Kimwenza and its surrounding neighbors were without any access to medical care due to impassable roads. Eroded by rains and its nearest clinic destroyed, the entire community was facing a soaring mortality rate for its new mothers and infants. With the help of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and its many benefactors the Rene de Haes Health and Maternity Center was built and IMEC was there to equip its new facility. Two 40’ containers fully packed with IMEC medical supplies and equipment was shipped to the new hospital, completely furnishing its exam, maternity and operating facilities including medical laboratory. The clinic is now fully functional and sustainable, reporting the delivery of 27 babies and 28 surgeries in its first two months. Plans are currently underway to expand services in 2010.

“The SNDs of the Congo thank all who have provided resources for giving birth to this new Clinic. At a time of worldwide financial crisis, the task of building, furnishing and providing necessities for a new Clinic seem miraculous.”

Sister Marie-Jeanne Kuntonda, SNDdeN

The Island Nation of Tuvalu is one of the smallest nations in the world in both total land area and population. With an estimated population of only 12,000 people, the inhabitants live throughout 8 of the 9 islands that make up the entire nation. Due to many factors, such as the widely dispersed population, the availability of basic quality health care is limited. The medical equipment and supplies that were sent immediately revitalized and expanded access to health care for the entire nation.

The project allowed for significant positive changes to the health care available in Tuvalu. The only hospital in the capital of Funafuti received a restoration and expansion of its inpatient and outpatient departments. Two full laboratories were created, making in-country diagnostic services accessible for the first time. Clinics on the underserved islands were provided with the tools and supplies needed to improve and expand existing departments and develop new medical services.

The upgraded facilities in Tuvalu will allow inhabitants of the island nation to be treated locally, rather than transported to the capital city or out of country to receive proper care.

After the devastating earthquake of 2010, IMEC was notified by the Hopital de la Communaute Haitienne that the hospital had not been damaged and their doctors and nurses were able to respond immediately to those needing emergency medical care. Equipment and supplies sent by IMEC in 2008 were instrumental in providing help around the clock to the victims of the earthquake.

The Hopital de la Communaute Haitienne “Haitian Community Hospital” (HCH) located in Petion-Ville, serves a population of approximately 250,000 in the surrounding Port-au –Prince area. Built in 1984, HCH has an excellent reputation and is a key institution in the Haitian health services community. IMEC, in partnership with Rotary Club of Petion-Ville and HRDF sent donated medical supplies and equipment to the hospital. Included in the shipment were a complete radiology suite, operating room, patient suites, exam suites, complete intensive care unit and medical laboratory. As a now fully functioning hospital and one that survived the earthquake, HRC has been critical in providing services to the victims of Haiti’s earthquake.

The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur serve as the administrators of 31 schools in the poor, rural Tambogrande area of Peru, north of Lima. A regional agricultural training high school is at the core of the program. The students learn general farming techniques and how to produce fertilizers effective for the region. They grow fruit trees and produce for which there is local demand. The school system works with an agricultural engineer to develop and improve their agricultural training programs.

Family Farm Suites will be distributed to local family farmers and to graduates of the agricultural high school, who will now have both the education and tools needed to start their own small farm.