P.O. Box 81046
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
412-361-5200 phone
412-361-5400 fax
info@hashaiti.org
    

 

Dear Friends,

X-ray of broken bone

One young patient can illustrate the capabilities and destiny of an entire hospital.

Last week, a teenage girl named Falancia appeared at our hospital. Her life had been full of fun until an accident fractured two bones in her left leg.

When Falancia arrived, her leg swollen to twice its normal size, she was feverish, breathless and delirious. Her rapid heartbeat could barely maintain her blood pressure.

This was a dangerous situation for her; when the large bones in the leg are broken, and the patient is immobile and bedridden, clots can form in the leg and travel to the heart and lungs. The result: pulmonary embolism or fat embolism—deadly diagnoses, with high mortality rates, even in first-world hospitals.

Her diagnosis and treatment began immediately, drawing on many of HAS' specialized resources, and on the intensive care provided by the medical and nursing staff. A young resident, under the direction of a senior physician, administered anticoagulants, and within 48 hours Falancia began a dramatic and deeply gratifying recovery. After surgery to reduce and stabilize her fractures, she emerged as a vivacious teenager who would have loved to dance along the corridor, but who was reconciled to wearing a cast for a few weeks.

Falancia recovers at our hospital in Deschapelles
This girl arrived at HAS needing both orthopedic surgery and sophisticated medical care. She came to an institution which has now established itself as a specialty hospital offering complex surgeries and advanced medical care, as well as the care of complicated pregnancies and highly compromised newborns.

As new capabilities emerge in other institutions in our region—in general medicine and pediatrics—HAS can help to create a coordinated system of care for the entire district by focusing on specialized tertiary clinical services unavailable elsewhere.

In order to efficiently fulfill this unique role, we will require additional resources for renovations, staff training and specialized equipment. We have been bolstered by the support you have given to us in the past, and we hope that you will join us in achieving the goal of raising $600,000 during the current year to support this new direction for HAS. Together, we can ensure that Falancia and many more of her neighbors can benefit from the best possible medical care. Please donate today.

Sincerely,
   

Venkita Suresh, M.D.
CEO