Then Again
Audrey Juds, a longtime resident of New Berlin, has worked over 25 years covering the city as a reporter, editor and columnist. Contact her at dajuds@att.net.
Haitian hospital has local connection
Andrew Rawson
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For Andrew Rawson of New Berlin, this Haitian crisis involves his whole family. His father, Ian Rawson, is the managing director of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital located 40 miles from Port-au-Prince. He, in turn, is carrying on the work of his parents, the late Dr. and Mrs.LarimerMellen.
Andrew, former president of the New Berlin Rotary Club, told members that when his grandfather founded the hospital in 1956 he named it after Schweitzer because of his inspirational missionary work.
Through the years the hospital’s mission has emphasized collaborating with the people of the nearby Artibonite Valley to improve their health and quality of life. This includes community based health centers, and a community based water resource/sanitation program.
Andrew described the challenges this 80-bed facility now faces while trying to accommodate crowds of patients. "Operating rooms are running all the time," he said. . Since there is no local electrical service, they depend on their three generators. And with rural roads, it can take seven hours to make the 40-mile drive.
According to his father’s report on the Internet, as of Jan. 24 they felt they had turned the corner on the acute shortages of badly needed antibiotics and analgesics. Also, each day they are using a month’s worth of supplies.
In Ian Rawson’s profile on http;//hashaiti.org, he praises a USA based team "for quickly working on the challenges in procuring and transporting medical supplies as well as medical teams specializing in trauma injuries."
In a posting on Jan. 28 the medical staff foresees problems as about 1 million people are leaving Port-au-Prince to return to their childhood homes or live with relatives. They are projecting 70,000 would be returning to the Artibonite valley near the hospital. Many will require medical attention, Bracing for the next wave, they need to strengthen supply lines as they treat hundreds of patients already admitted.
Dan Christianson, former president of the New Berlin club, is a coordinator of the International Rotary Shelterbox project that provides the homeless with sturdy, waterproof tents, along with provisions for survival.
In Haiti, shelterboxes are being set up to provide a tent city for about 40,000 people, thus replacing villages of sheets and sticks. This Rotary program is headquartered in Canada.
Christianson said Rotarians also set up a field hospital at the airport and recovery rooms at two major hospitals.
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