St. Damian’s Hospital is the only free children’s hospital in Port-au-Prince.

Dr. Anthony Alessi: On my 3rd visit to Haiti after quake, I’ve seen some changes for better – Norwich, CT – Norwich Bulletin.

Dr. Anthony Alessi, one of the physicians who traveled to Haiti to work with Fr. Rick Frechette in the aftermath of the earthquake reports on his latest visit to the island.

• The Haitian medical staff of St. Damian’s has largely returned, but the number of children needing care has increased dramatically. Mothers and infants begin gathering at the gate at 4:30 a.m. for outpatient care. The emergency room is seeing record numbers of infants, many suffering from malnutrition and related diseases. A new EEG machine has been donated by an Italian charity and staff was sent from Verona, Italy, to train Haitian technologists.

• A CT scanner donated by the McDonald’s Foundation of Germany will be arriving soon. It will be only the third working CT scanner in Port-au-Prince, and the images will be transmitted to Backus Hospital for expert interpretation by members of the Norwich Diagnostic Imaging Associates.

• St. Vincent’s School for deaf and blind children was run by a group of sisters in downtown Port-au-Prince. On Jan. 12, the school was reduced to a pile of stone. Some children perished in the school, but the majority of almost 200 students have been left without a school while the sisters regroup. Father Frechette has opted to connect shipping containers and build two classrooms, restrooms and a fenced-in play area to provide a temporary location for these needy children. It is scheduled to open this week.

• The biggest development has been the opening of The St. Luke Family Health Center. Its temporary structure consists of well-used shipping containers connected by corrugated metal roofing and a concrete floor. The first patients had primarily orthopedic earthquake-related problems requiring corrective surgery. Soon to be added is a trauma center with four operating rooms that is being constructed in Europe.

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• Molly Hightower’s Family Continues her Mission (thepassionists.org)
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