I was the only provider for our inaugural medical mission trip to Kobonal Mission in Hinche, Haiti, in 2016. Since then, we have sent 2 more teams (I participated in one of them). We provide basic medical evaluations, well-child visits, evaluate acute wounds and injuries. We provide treatment of chronic and acute conditions within the scope of our formulary. We provide medications to treat the conditions we evaluate. Based on our ongoing encounters, we have tailored our formulary to meet the needs of the patients we see. We are monitoring the health of the children (1200) of the mission's school. We provide teaching on various health care issues, e.g. hand washing, diet as it relates to hypertension, etc. The mission has a two other health teams that visit annually, specifically an ophthalmology team as well as a dental team that bring medical providers. We have started to collaborate with these teams in regards to medications and supplies that can be left to help address the healthcare needs of the the mission's population. We hope to improve the overall health and well-being of the mission's population, including the school children. We are often the only healthcare providers they see annually, as the major hospital in Port Au Prince is a 3 hour drive away. The patients that we see are incredibly poor and cannot afford to make the trip or purchase needed medications.
We do not treat certain chronic conditions such as hypertension or diabetes which require routine monitoring.
The people we serve are the mission's families and families within the surrounding area of Hinche, Haiti. We see infants, children, adults and elderly. They have very limited medical providers in their region and even less access to medications. We provide school physicals for the children of the mission's school.
We hope to improve the overall health and well-being of the people of Kobonal Mission region. Through our health teaching, we hope to guide our patients towards better health practices to avoid illness. Because we provide medications as well as vitamins/nutrients, we hope to alleviate pain/suffering and improve chronic conditions. The mission would like to send staff for formal healthcare education and training, which we support. We hope to include these formally trained individuals in our healthcare clinics as we move forward.
We saw 563 patients during our week in Hinche, Haiti. We saw school aged children from the mission school with various skin ailments, pregnant women from local villages, patients with urgent orthopedic injuries, patients with musculoskeletal pain, etc. We lack advanced diagnostic capabilities and therefore a good history and exam is essential. We had one very unfortunate case of heart failure in a 2 year old. Our only recourse was to get him to the Sisters of Charity who provided palliative care. It is an honor to provide care to the poorest of the poor in Haiti. Thank you Doximity, you played a huge role in making this happen!
