Local Medical Providers on the Ground in Haiti

WOODBURY, Minn., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Haiti's earthquake disaster is now a reality for several local orthopedic and medical providers who arrived in Haiti on Tuesday to assist in relief efforts.

The team includes three physicians from Summit Orthopedics—Peter Daly, MD, Michael Forseth, MD, Daren Wickum, MD and Mary Aschenbrener, PA-C, who are traveling together for ten days along with family members and colleagues. Other Summit Orthopedics' physicians have intentions of assisting in relief efforts too.

The team responded to an urgent request for help on Sunday from Fr. Rick Frechette, a physician and priest who oversees St. Damien Hospital Haiti, located just miles outside of Port-au-Prince, the epicenter of the quake.

Within several hours, the physicians were organized for departure. They cancelled their clinics and surgeries, coordinated travel plans, assembled eight bins of medical supplies and medications, and collected donated items from other local healthcare organizations. Specialized instrumentation was included in preparation for the types of musculoskeletal injuries and wounds that would be encountered.

St. Damien Hospital Haiti has become a front-line triage center, medically treating thousands of Haitians affected by the earthquake. Many people are awaiting amputations. The team from Summit Orthopedics will join the limited staff as volunteer orthopedic experts. "The depth of this devastation and suffering from Tuesday's earthquake is unimaginable," states Lulu Daly, RN, Dr. Daly's wife who is also accompanying the team.

Fr. Frechette is also the Regional Director for the Caribbean, Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH), part of a network of orphanages located throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. NPH is supported in part by Friends of the Orphans. Friends of the Orphans, with a regional office in Saint Paul, makes it possible for hospitals like St. Damien to provide free care for orphaned and abandoned children.

SOURCE Summit Orthopedics