Penn Medicine and the Haiti Earthquake: Featured Stories in the News

As the first wave of U.S. physicians who treated Haitian earthquake victims returns from the tiny Caribbean country, many are trying to make sense of their personal feelings. "Not a single person I've met who works here did not lose someone in the earthquake," anesthesiologist Michael Ashburn, MD, MPH, MBA, told USA Today from Haiti last week. His team from Penn Medicine was working at a Partners in Health hospital 40 miles outside of Port-au-Prince. “They are wonderful, gracious people struggling with a health-care system already in critical condition."

Penn Medicine Team One, the medical team currently treating patients in Haiti, was featured on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer in an article about the life-altering decision many earthquake victims are having to face: Do I have my limb amputated or risk my life battling systemic infections?

Penn nurses Jamie Heffernnan, BSN, RN, and Darline Rosier, RN, are featured in ADVANCE for Nurses, sharing their story of caring for Haitian earthquake victims at HUP. ”The simplest acts of kindness have made the most difference to the distressed patients," Heffernnan observed.

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is providing lifesaving care to three Haitian women, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Naomi Rosenberg, a second year Penn medical student and member of the nonprofit Partners in Health. She spearheaded a coordinated effort to get victims to HUP for lifesaving treatment. With the help of Richard Shannon, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine, her efforts were made a reality as the patients were flown in on January 17 for emergency treatment and surgery.