John Pattaras and Viraj Master Provide Free Surgical Care in Haiti
2013
For the past five years, Emory Urology faculty surgeonsJohn Pattaras, MD, and/orViraj Master, MD, PhD, have travelled to Haiti's Central Plateau to provide free surgical care to the local population. They go as members of Emory Medishare, a branch of 501(c)3 non-profit organization Project Medishare, which makes annual summer trips to Hinche, a community about 100 kilometers north of Port-au-Prince.
Along with Emory general surgery and anesthesiology personnel, Dr. Pattaras and Dr. Master work with Medishare's local medical staff to set up clinics at the Hopital Saint Terese, where they train local healthcare workers and assist in improving the healthcare infrastructure. Emory medical students organize and raise funds for the trips, and are involved in pre- and post-operative care of the Haitian patients.
Clinical working conditions in the Central Plateau, the poorest and most medically underserved region in all of Haiti, include minimal running water, ORs that function on a diesel generator, barely adequate lighting, and intermittent power outages that require the teams to operate by the light of headlamps. On surgical days, preparation for cases begins just after dawn, and the actual surgeries may stretch late into the night to accommodate as many patients as possible over the trip's duration. Many patients wait months or even years for treatment. Typically, surgical care is delivered to more than 60 patients.
