Hands Up for Haiti is a non-profit relief organization created and led by Dr. Jill Ratner, a pediatrician, from the Mount Kisco Medical Group who volunteered to work in Haiti immediately after the devastating earthquake of 2010. While Port au Prince was the epicenter of the relief efforts, this team was directed to Cap Haitien, on the northern coast, a city not devastated by the earthquake, but still very much in need of medical help for its people and the many refugees who went there after the devastation. The team established relationships with several clinics and with the Cap Haitien Health Network, an organization striving to unify all the medical volunteers working in Cap Haitien.
The realization that returning would build credibility and could lead to sustainable improvements inspired a second trip in November of 2010. Since that time, teams of doctors within Westchester, with unique medical specialties have traveled with the organization providing medical attention, and also training local medical staff on the use of the equipment donated by the organization. Most recently, several Westchester doctors acquired and donated urologic scopes worth over $100,000, this represents our largest single donation to date and helped procure essential donations of equipment in urology and ophthalmology for Justiniene Hospital.
“The mission exceeded my expectations due to my team’s extraordinary commitment to fulfilling our goals by both the ophthalmology and urology team members. We worked with the Haitian doctors and technicians advancing their skills and assisting them in providing ongoing care to their patients. The entire team found the experience deeply gratifying and everyone wants to return on a future mission.”
Beth Bromberg, M.D. of Yorktown Heights
