UNMC set to deploy second wave of volunteers to Haiti

The University of Nebraska Medical Center is preparing 12 more health care specialists to participate in its second deployment to Haiti.

The volunteers – eight nurses, two physicians, one pharmacist and one physician assistant – are expected to arrive in Haiti on Thursday on board University of Miami/MediShare Haiti flights.
 
“We have had tremendous response from people who want to travel to Haiti to help,” said Ayman El-Mohandes, M.B.B.Ch., M.D., M.P.H., dean of the College of Public Health and a co-leader of UNMC’s Haiti response team. “We have selected a group of volunteers that meets the current needs on the ground in Haiti.”
 
UNMC’s first group of 13 volunteers deployed on Jan. 23, and most spent a week assisting those wounded in the massive Jan. 12 earthquake that rocked Haiti.
 
Several medical center volunteers assumed leadership posts at the hospitals and clinics where they worked. Rubens Pamies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs and the other co-leader of UNMC’s Haiti response efforts, worked with Haitian officials to establish UNMC as a significant partner in long-term relief efforts in Haiti.
 
Two volunteers from the first wave, David Young, M.D., and nurse Nick Hall, remained in Haiti at the University of Miami/MediShare Tent Hospital to help provide a bridge for the second wave of Nebraska volunteers. Dr. Young and Hall both will return to Omaha in the coming days.
 
“Dr. Young and Nick Hall have been simply remarkable in their endurance,” Dr. El-Mohandes said. “They have valiantly worked to help many people in incredibly intense and challenging conditions.”
 
Most of the members of the second wave of volunteers will stay in Haiti for seven to 10 days serving in the Miami/MediShare and other hospitals.
 
Sponsor a volunteer
 
The College of Public Health Student Association is sponsoring an “Adopt a Provider” Campaign to support UNMC’s Haitian Relief and Outreach Fund.
 
The association hopes to raise $1,500 for each of the providers who deploy this week.  All proceeds will support medical center volunteer efforts and help offset the travel and living costs for the providers in Haiti.
 
Departments, groups and other organizations are encouraged to pool donations together in support of UNMC’s volunteer providers. For more information, contact Michelle Lampman at 559-8406 or Anh Nguyen at 559-3295.
 
As the state’s only academic health science center, UNMC is on the leading edge of health care. Breakthroughs are possible because hard-working researchers, educators and clinicians are resolved to work together to fuel discovery. In 2009, UNMC’s extramural research support topped $100 million for the first time, resulting in the creation of 3,600 jobs in Nebraska. UNMC’s academic excellence is shown through its award-winning programs, and its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through its commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading health care centers. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 550 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.