A month after the earthquake, many hospitals and clinics are still crowded with people seeking medical care. Quake survivors are recovering, but new threats of infection and disease are on the rise.

Samaritan's Purse is helping meet those needs by operating a clinic in the slums of Cite Soleil. A medical team is treating more than 100 patients a day at the busy facility, which opened last week.

“Some days we are running an emergency room,” said Dr. John Sawvel, a family practice physician from Beavercreek, Ohio. “We had three IV fluids running and multiple people receiving breathing treatments because of severe asthma exacerbations. One was five-months pregnant and could barely walk.”

The team is also working with other health workers to help stave off the growing threat of tetanus.

“Along with seeing patients we are also participating in a campaign to immunize against tetanus, which has been on the increase because of the higher risk of cuts since the earthquake,” Dr. Sawvel said.

As quake-related injuries decrease, accidents and illnesses related to day-to-day life continue. Patients with high blood pressure and diabetes come to the clinic for treatment. A worried grandmother came in carrying her malnourished two-month-old granddaughter. A young woman arrived who had been thrown from the bed of a makeshift “tap-tap” taxi that flipped over with 12 passengers on board. The woman suffered a broken arm and a lacerated knee, but 10 other passengers died.

The medical team worked together to meet every need.

“It has been exciting to see how God’s hand has been in all of this,” Dr. Sawvel said. “You can see how God put this team together. He allowed a pharmacist to get off work so that we could have someone to set up the pharmacy, two family practice physicians with similar training, one of whom speaks French, a Honduran physician who is a pediatrician, and two nurses with missions experience. We have a very strong team and we all want to represent Christ well and share His love with our patients.”

Samaritan’s Purse helped prepare the clinic for the arrival of the medical team, clearing earthquake debris from the grounds and providing medicine, equipment, and supplies.

“We get visitors all the time, people who want to see how we were able to successfully set up such a clinic in such a short period of time,” said Dr. Anne-Marie Moukala-Cadet. “They are impressed by our pharmacy and teamwork. We tell them God put us together and He will see our clinic through. It has been a great experience to work with such humble people.”

Medical teams from the United States are scheduled to help staff the clinic at least through May.

Samaritan's Purse , Haiti , Help for Haiti , Healing Hands