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Matt Thacker
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Dr. Phillip Smith
As one Erlanger hospital team returns from a medical mission trip in Haiti, a second team gets ready to start working there.
A group of three doctors and three nurses left Wednesday morning from TAC Air at Lovell Field. Dr. Phillip Smith, who is with University Surgical Associates and a member of the team, said the group tentatively plans to stay seven days.
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Staff photo by Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press Erlanger physicians Dr. Pat Keegan, right, and Dr. Phillip Smith, center, prepare to leave Chattanooga for a week of volunteer service in Haiti. The medical professionals are replacing an earlier group of doctors and nurses who are returning to Chattanooga late Wednesday.
Cyrus Huffman, chief medical officer for Erlanger Health System, said the first team, dubbed "America One," worked at St. Damian Hospital in Haiti. The second team, he said, "is more of a pediatric group to meet the requests of the (hospital's) leadership."
The first team of two doctors and a nurse that left Jan. 18 was expected to return late Wednesday night, according to Vanessa Young, wife of Dr. Chris Young, one of the doctors on the team.
Also on the first team were Dr. Chris Moore and Erlanger nurse Jennifer Ohle.
HOW TO HELP
* To help fund the medical missions, visit www.erlanger.org/... or call 423-778-6600.
SECOND TEAM:
* Dr. Philip Smith, surgeon with University Surgical Associates
* Dr. Bruce Johnson, anesthesiologist from Cookeville, Tenn.
* Dr. Pat Keegan, pediatrician with T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital
* Julie DeMary, Erlanger post-operative care registered nurse
* Barbara Rhyne, T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital pediatric intensive care registered nurse
* Rhesa Rodriguez, T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital pediatric intensive care registered nurse
While in Haiti, that team worked alongside Italian surgeons, treating many infections and fractures, according to their spouses and Erlanger officials.
The second team, Dr. Huffman said, is expected to provide mostly wound care and postsurgical help inside St. Damian, a pediatric hospital on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. According to the hospital's Web site, it's the only free pediatric hospital in Haiti, funded through international donations.
Both medical missions from Chattanooga were funded by private individuals, said Dr. Huffman. He encouraged people to donate to the Care Force Global Fund, created by the Baroness Erlanger Foundation, in hopes of continuing the medical mission in Haiti.
Staff photographer Tim Barber contributed to this article.
Perla Trevizo joined the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 2007 and covers immigration/diversity issues and higher education. She holds a master’s degree in newswire journalism from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas. In 2011 she participated in the Bringing Home the World international reporting fellowship program sponsored by the International Center for Journalists, producing a series on Guatemalan immigrants for which she ...
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