Provide Rehabilitative Care in Haiti During COVID

Happy Spring STAND family! We hope this update finds you happy and healthy and enjoying this warmer weather. Our clinic has been incredibly busy since our last update. Sam and Sainfolia (the PT and the rehab tech) have grown the clinic from 99 patients to 250! Additionally, they are continuing to go out into the community to educate about diabetes, hygiene and strokes. The clinic has been so busy that we have hired Ferdinand as a secretary Jean Pierre to be the general manager of the clinic. This dream team is in charge of scheduling appointments and handling the day-to-day needs of the clinic so Sam and Sainfolia can really focus on treating our patients.

We also have significantly upgraded our therapy equipment. Gomez (our amazing property manager) was able to find a treadmill, a stationary bike as well as new weights and other therapy equipment in the DR and brought it back to the clinic. This new equipment allows our therapy team to expand the exercises they can do with our patients making the therapy programs more effective.

That is not all! Our pediatric program has also grown so much that they had to move to a new space to accommodate all the kids. This comes at a perfect time as both the adult and pediatric programs are expanding so rapidly and this move allows the adult and pediatric teams the space they need to treat the ever expanding caseloads. Although the two teams are no longer in the same building, they are in constant communication and continue to share ideas, treatment plans and (occasionally) equipment. The pedi team continues with the home visits, patient advocacy as well as the vitamin and nutrition program.  

While our clinic is thriving, the rest of Haiti has not been so lucky. A recent storm has flooded a good part of the country, including the school that hosts the PT and OT programs. Haiti was devastated before this, and this destroyed what little was available to this region. Haiti continues at an economic standstill has gangs continue to take over more and more of the country. Port de Paix is still safe, however our teams are taking all the precautions necessary to keep themselves and our patient safe.

Thank you again for all your support! We cannot keep our clinic open without you. As the situation in Haiti because more and more tenuous, we are truly the only medical option available to Port de Paix and the surrounding communities. Your continued support will allow us to keep our doors open as long as it is safe to do so and continue to expand to improve the health outcomes in our community.

Stay healthy and thank you again! Mesi anpil!