Haitian Earthquake Relief

Meridian Health Sends Medical Team and Supplies to Haiti

On February 26, Meridian Health sent equipment, supplies, and a full medical team to Haiti for a week-long mission as part of our continued support for earthquake relief efforts. The mission is supported by the Medical and Dental Staffs of each Meridian hospital, who generously committed the financial support to fund the travel expenses for our team and shipment of their supplies.

Our team of four physicians and six nurses and team members representing all five Meridian hospitals, traveled as part of a partnership with the CRUDEM Foundation, an American nonprofit organization which supports the Hospital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti. Numerous Meridian physicians and team members have regularly traveled on medical missions, and Meridian has provided supplies to the Hospital since 1997.

The Meridian Haiti Medical Mission team includes:

Physicians:

• Michael Bleiman, M.D., pediatrics, Southern Ocean County Hospital
• Felix Fianko, M.D., anesthesiology, Jersey Shore University Medical Center
• Rose St. LeFleur, M.D., pediatric intensive care, K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital
• Dominick Grosso, D.O., internal medicine, Riverview Medical Center

Team Members:

• Regina Foley, R.N., Ocean Medical Center
• Florence Germaine, R.N., Riverview Medical Center
• Darlene Innocent, R.N., Ocean Medical Center
• Jean Pierre Marcenet, Jersey Shore University Medical Center
• Kris Rovell, R.N., Riverview Medical Center
• Trish Wesch, R.N., Jersey Shore University Medical Center

Two trailers of medical equipment and supplies were also sent to meet our team’s arrival in Haiti. Based on the needs expressed by the hospital in Haiti, Meridian assembled a robust stock of supplies to support our team’s work, including equipment such as patient beds and oxygen concentrators no longer in use here, but in working condition for such an emergency as the recovery in Haiti.

Our team in Haiti has provided daily updates for us, which you can read by visiting our Facebook page.

Our medical mission continues Meridian’s response to the tragic events in Haiti, which has affected many of our team members of Haitian descent who are coping with the loss of friends and family members. Additionally, several Meridian physicians and team members were in Haiti at the time of the earthquake, and during the past few weeks, Meridian has provided supplies to physicians who traveled to the country as part of the initial response effort.

To support additional relief efforts, below is information on how you can directly support the Hospital Sacre Coeur or other organizations, and read more about some of the Meridian physicians and nurses who were in Haiti at the time of the earthquake.

How You Can Help

CRUDEM Foundation – Hospital Sacre Coeur, Milot, Haiti
www.crudem.org

CRUDEM is a nonprofit organization operating the Hospital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti. Meridian Health has supported Hospital Sacre Coeur for over 12 years, with many of our physicians, nurses, and staff donating their time and expertise in medical missions every year. Meridian has also provided supplies and refurbished equipment to the hospital over the years.

While impacted by the earthquake, Hospital Sacre Coeur remains in operation, treating many victims from the crisis, as well as maintaining their regular care for the community.

Dr. Daniel Burzon, a surgeon at Ocean Medical Center and Jersey Shore University Medical Center, along with a small team of Meridian nurses was at the hospital when the earthquake hit. Over the days that followed, Dr. Burzon and his team worked to treat victims before being relieved by another CRUDEM medical team.

Virtually every dollar raised by CRUDEM goes to direct patient care at Hospital Sacre Coeur.

City of Asbury Park
Coalition for Haitian-American Empowerment
732-455-5546

A nonprofit organization serving Monmouth and Ocean counties supporting local families impacted by the crisis and coordinating local relief efforts.

American Red Cross
To make an online contribution:
www.redcross.org

For other ways you can help:
American Red Cross – Jersey Coast
540 W. Park Ave. in Tinton Falls
732-493-9100

Supporting emergency relief and recovery efforts to help those people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Assistance provided by the American Red Cross may include deploying personnel, sending relief supplies, and providing financial resources.

Our Team’s Stories

Daniel Burzon, M.D.
Ocean Medical Center

• Daniel Burzon, M.D., a urologist at Ocean Medical Center and Brielle resident, has been visiting Haiti annually for the past 11 years as part of a medical mission team organized by the Catholic Medical Mission Association. On Tuesday, January 12, while operating on a patient at the hospital Sacre Couer (Sacred Heart) in the town of Milot, about 75 miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince, the earthquake hit. The building was bending and shaking, but the surgical team could not stop the operation. After the quake, it was determined the hospital was not structurally compromised, so surgeries continued as scheduled.
  
  
• With Dr. Burzon on the mission were his wife and another couple from New Jersey. While his wife and their two friends left Haiti as soon as possible on Thursday, January 14, Dr. Burzon stayed behind to complete surgeries until his prescheduled departure date of Saturday, January 16. His leaving was then postponed due to flight cancellations. Communication with Dr. Burzon has been spotty and only via e-mail as mobile phone service has been unreliable since the quake.
  
  
• According to an e-mail from Dr. Burzon on Friday, January 15, the U.N. arrived at the hospital in Milot to prepare for airlifts from Port-au-Prince. They were awaiting shipments of supplies. There was no gas, and they needed to run generators. With a lack of infrastructure in the country and limited communications, the response efforts have been greatly hindered. People are walking nearly 30 miles before finding a bus, or even crowding 30 people into pickup trucks.
  
  
• In another e-mail from Dr. Burzon, he says, "Tonight we are working through getting ready for an influx of patients that need amputations which are being airlifted from navy ships that can’t treat, as they are over-capacity. We are sterilizing instruments, gathering supplies, and trying to get private planes to take the surgeons here, as all commercial flights are booked…Things here are getting crazy as the people here are terrified by unfound fears that another quake will come, so they are sleeping in the streets outside their homes."
  
  
• Dr. Burzon returned home to his family on Monday, January 18.



• As featured on ABCNews.com, "Haiti Hospital Waits for Patients Following Quake"



• As featured in the Asbury Park Press, "Brielle doctor on Haiti mission heading home"

Florence Germain, R.N.
Riverview Medical Center

• Florence Germain has worked at Riverview Medical Center for eight years. During her nursing shift on Christmas Day at Riverview’s Stroke Center, Florence received the news that her father had passed away while visiting his native Haiti. Florence, her husband, children and other family members boarded a plane to Haiti to lay her father to rest.
  
  
• It was on January 12, while Florence and her family were waiting in the airport to board their flight home to the U.S. that the earthquake hit. Florence protected her children from the falling debris, and after ensuring her family was relatively safe, immediately began caring for the victims around her.
  
  
• During the hours that followed, Florence cared for many victims in the airport as best she could without any medical equipment or the help of other trained medical professionals. Florence and four other family members lost their passports in the commotion, and had to go the U.S. Embassy for assistance.
  
  
• While there, she had an opportunity to send a quick e-mail to friends in the U.S. to let them know she was safe. In the tense moment, she was having trouble recalling e-mail addresses from memory, but knew there was one e-mail that she could count on, her nurse manager at Riverview.
  
  
• Florence and her family returned to the U.S. the following day, where she was greeted by her sister, Anaise Severe, who is also a nurse at Riverview, and her friends and co-workers at Riverview.
  
  
• As featured on ABCNews.com, "Haiti: Nurse Offers Care in Disaster; Airport Rum for Antiseptic"



• As featured in the Asbury Park Press, "N.J. Nurse stranded at Haitian airport jumped into action after quake"



• As featured in the Brick Township Bulletin, "Local nurse, student among earthquake survivors"