From
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In the picture, physical therapist David Charles works with Fabienne Jean, a dancer who lost her leg in the earthquake, at the Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti.
In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Hospital Albert Schweitzer has opened a center to provide artificial limbs to amputees.
"If you're a farmer and you only have one leg, you're in bad shape," said Ian Rawson, a board member of the hospital. "If you're farmer and only have one arm, you're in really bad shape. That's why a prosthesis is so important."
Rawson discussed the recent opening of the Haitian Amputee Coalition Prosthetic and Rehabilitation Center during a telephone interview Tuesday from Haiti.
The hospital was founded in 1956 by his stepfather and mother, late Pittsburghers William Larimer Mellon Jr. and Gwen Mellon, heirs to the family's banking and oil fortune. The hospital is located in Deschapelles, 40 miles north of Port-au-Prince.
The center was started through a partnership with the Haitian Amputee Coalition. It includes Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc. and its philanthropic branch, the Hanger Ivan R. Sabel Foundation; Physicians for Peace, the Harold & Kayrita Anderson Family Foundation; and Dr. Donald Peck Leslie of the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
"I, as founder and former CEO of the company, feel very strong that we have a commitment and obligation to help those around the world that could not avail themselves of the kind of technology and services and products that we're in a position to provide," said Ivan R. Sabel, chairman of the foundation in Bethesda, Md., that bears his name.
The foundation has donated a couple hundred thousand dollars in cash, medical equipment and the services of two company employees working at the hospital. He said the donation eventually could reach "seven figures."
The need for such a center already was high because of amputations related to diabetes. But after the Jan. 12 earthquake, the demand mushroomed.
"We're guessing there's 2,000 people who received amputations as a direct result of the earthquake," Rawson said.
In the two weeks after the earthquake, the hospital treated more than 1,000 victims, of whom 15 required amputations. The hospital is treating patients who received emergency amputations in the field, some of them in tent hospitals under candlelight, Rawson said.
The amputees and their family members live temporarily in L'Escale, a village of eight houses accommodating four persons each, at the hospital.
The next step for the hospital will be helping to find permanent housing for patients and to adjust to its new role in the country.
"Hospital Albert Schweitzer was a referral center in a region for 1 million people," Rawson said. "Now we're being asked to take on a considerable amount of service for Port-au-Prince as well."
From Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. In the picture, physical therapist David Charles works with Fabienne Jean, a dancer who lost her leg in the earthquake, at the Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti.
