FAO is Distributing Seeds and Tools:
The Parish Twinning Program of the Americas (PTPA) is hosting a national multipurpose conference focused on improving parish twinning relationships between Haiti and the U.S.
Alan Dooley of Nashville has been named to the Visitation Hospital Foundation Board of Directors.
Visitation Hospital Foundation is a Christian non-profit organization founded in March 1999. Theresa Patterson, together with Harry Hosey, began matching parishes in the U.S. with parish comunities in Haiti over 30 years ago, beginning wiht the Catholic Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee. Today there are more than 350 "sister-parish" relationships--making it the largest citizen-to-citizen network linking Haiti with the U.S. "The twinned" American and Canadian parishes have sent over $24 million in monetary relief funds over the years.
The relationship with churches and projects in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has been a real story of love and commitment, brining hope and aid to thousands of Haitians and touching the hearts of many Americans. Thousands of individuals have visited Haiti as a direct result of this outreach, and Theresa has brough over 90 children and adults to the U.S. for life-saving medical care since 1987.
Medical teams, consisting of a number of physicians and nurses, have treated many thousands of Haitians during hundreds of mission trips. With a long history of creating parish partnerships and providing medical aid for the people of Haiti, the need to broaden the scope of the mission by constructing a hospital in one of the pooest regions was compelling. Thus, our Foundation is creating Visitation Hospital, a comprehensive healthcare facility that will be located in a small rural village approximately four hours from Port-au-Prince. This dynamic medical facility will make emergency care and other desperately needed medical services more accessible for the people of the region. The hospital will consist of 100 beds and will be located in Petite Riviere de Nippes, in southwest Haiti. The hospital will serve over 266,000 people in the 7 communities of Miragoane, Petite Riviere de Nippes, L'Asile, Anse-a-Veau, Petit Trou de Nippes, Founds des Negres, and Paillant. Phase 1 of the project, the construction of the Visitation Outpatient Clinic, is now complete. The Clinic officially opened with a dedication by the local Bishop on January 19, 2008. Thirty-three people from the U.S. attended the event, in addition to the hundreds of local residents.
The Visitation Clinic is currently treating 80-90 patients per day. The staff includes 23 Haitian employees and one American Administrator. Of these, three are physicians. The Clinic provides a laboratory, pharmacy, and digital radiography services, electronic medical records, plus a full array of community health and outreach programs. Examples of such programs include:
* De-worming of women and children
* Early treatment of malnutrition, nutritional education of adults, and a food bank
* Tuberculosis prevention and treatment
* Vitamin A capsule distribution, to help prevent loss of vision in children
* STD/AIDS prevention, screening, care, and educaiton
* Midwifery program
* Immunization of children and adults
* Oral rehydration therapy at the household level
* Training of mothers in early, exclusive, and extended breast-feeding
* Medical-related leadership training
* The hospital will be constructed in a variety of stages. The next step is the construction of an Ambulatory Surgery Center to include two operating suites, a pre- and post-op area, dressing area, restrooms, chapel, and expansion of the current staffing quarters. Plus we will need funding to continue to run the Clinic.
Also included on the campus currently are a 2,000 square foot storage facility with a loading dock, guards' quarters, 2,580 sq. ft. staff quarters, a cistern, generator, fencing, and a newly constructed road and landscaping. The Clinic also uses solar energy and energy-efficient appliances and ceiling fans. The Clinic sits up on a hill with the Caribbean on one side and mountains on the other, creating a cool breeze throughout the facility, and a place of comfort and respite for visitors as well as patients.
Once complete, this "Hospital of American Standards" will be a clean and comfortable faility that will promote a sense of healing and well-being, where physicians can come from anywhere in the U. S. to practice their
specialty. To ensure that the total hospital project is comprehensive and effective, the following components will be included:
* Three surgical suites
* Administrative Offices
* Pharmacy
* Relatives's Sleeping Quarters
* Out-patient Clinic
* ICU Unit
* Digital Radiography
* Nursery
* Pediatrics
* Laboratory
* Emergency Care
* Kitchen Facility
* Maintenance Building
* Obstetrics and Gynecology
* Isolation Unit
* Chapel