Health Care News Updates

Rehab team part of ‘second wave’ of disaster care to Haiti

HOUSTON - Art Encarnacion is taking time off from his work at The Methodist Hospital for what may be the toughest week of his career.   When he returns, Encarncion believes he will be a different man.

Encarnacion, a nurse practitioner in physical medicine and rehabilitation, is part of a Houston-based team traveling to Haiti to give medical care to people injured in the Jan. 12 earthquake.  He will be joined by six other Methodist employees and physicians as Orthopaedic Team No. 9, scheduled to fly to Haiti on Feb. 26 and return to Houston March 7.

“We really don’t know exactly what to expect when we get there,” says Encarnacion.  “The only thing I do know is that this will be a life-changing experience.”

The team includes Dr. Lawrence Nguyen, medical director for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Methodist, and a handful of nurses and physical medicine-rehab technicians.  The group was organized by Drs. Rex Marco and Jerry Sucher, orthopedic surgeons affiliated with the University of Texas-Houston.

“We are the second wave of medical relief,” explains Encarnacion, who has worked at Methodist for nearly four years.  “Many of the surgeries have been done … but there are many people with amputated or disabled limbs, or prostheses, and we hope to use our rehabilitation skills to help them get back into normal life.”

But in the devastated country, “normal life” is a highly relative term.  Doctors and medical workers are doing the best they can to care for more than 300,000 injured people, many of whom have nothing more than the clothes they are wearing.

“Really, we have to be ready for anything … we have been told to expect to do any number of things that may be out of our normal job requirements,” says Encarnacion.   Trained for acute care and wound care certified, Encarnacion expects he may be tending to all types of wounds as well as providing rehabilitation.

“In a normal hospital setting, we will work one-on-one with a patient for physical therapy and rehabilitation,” he explains.  “But because of the unusual circumstances, we may have to work with as many as 40 people at one time … sharing basic rehab exercises, showing them how to use crutches or a prosthesis … just to lay the groundwork to help them deal with what comes next.”

The team will work out of Sacre Coeur hospital in the northern Haiti town of Milot.  The 73-bed hospital survived the natural catastrophe.  But the human aftermath - a flood of patients coming from all parts of the island nation - nearly swamped the little hospital.

Now the formerly peaceful grounds have become landing areas for helicopters bringing more patients, and military-style tents have sprouted to shelter patients and medical personnel.  “They have turned it into a 300-bed hospital,” says Encarnacion.

“When I heard about this trip, I couldn’t say no,” he continues.   “This is a chance to help people who are desperate … I hope I can help to relieve just a small bit of suffering.”

Encarnacion and a co-worker from West Pavilion, physical medicine-rehab technician Chris Windham, plan to keep a record of their work during the week in Haiti.  If possible, they will send back reports which will be available on The Methodist Hospital’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

Immediately after the Haiti earthquake, the entire Methodist family came together to collect money that will be applied to relief efforts in the stricken country.   Employees and physicians raised more than $55,000, then The Methodist Hospital System matched that amount and gave an additional $50,000 for a total of about $160,000 to the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

UMCOR will use the funds to share health kits for the general Haitian population, and is assembling and creating layette and birthing kits for babies born in camps for displaced persons.  Other funds will help provide food, clean water, shelter and sanitation to earthquake victims.

“The entire country is still struggling to get an infrastructure back in place, so this contribution will help greatly,” says Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, bishop of the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and a member of Methodist’s Board of Directors.  “This outpouring of generosity from employees and physicians at Methodist is touching and truly inspiring.”

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Video about earthquake relief efforts at Sacre Coeur hospital in Milot, Haiti  (This video is not produced by Methodist; we included it so readers can get an idea of conditions at the hospital in Haiti.)