ALTAMONTE SPRINGS—When Ralph Gousse, MD, learned about the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated his native country of Haiti, he was understandably shaken. Through his Orlando-based non-profit charitable foundation, Haiti Help Med Plus, Gousse has been bringing medical care to Haitians living in the back country of Miragoane and Paillant for years, in an area of the country located about 60 miles west of Port-au-Prince, the epicenter of the earthquake.

 

Not only was he concerned about the safety and well-being of fellow Haitians, but Gousse was also in the midst of adding clinics and an operating room to the hospital he had saved from despair years earlier. The project had taken years to near completion. Had it been damaged or destroyed?

 

“Believe it or not, it was still standing,” said Gousse, a doctor at Florida Hematology & Oncology Specialists in Altamonte Springs, who travels to Haiti so often that he has a second home there. He has practiced medicine in Central Florida for 15 years, and established Haiti Help Med Plus in 2003.

 

Gousse had planned a weeklong routine mission trip to Haiti via American Airlines on Jan. 20, but his commercial flight was cancelled after the earthquake. He persevered until he accessed a charter flight to the Caribbean country, accompanied by Florida Hospital internist Samuel Jean, MD.

 

“We went a day ahead, and asked to be taken to a hangar to get supplies,” he said. “The next day, we picked up five orthopedists, a gynecologist, and two nurses, and went to a hospital in Miragoane, where many of those injured were taken. There were so many people in corridors and hallways with broken legs and arms, and no material to help them. Many were being turned away in Port-au-Prince and sent home for shelter and food. They had no help at all. We started operating immediately, and worked nonstop doing surgeries and administering antibiotics until another team arrived a week later.” 

 

Through Haiti Help Med Plus, Gousse had already attracted a large following of supporters from the Orlando area, including many Haitian-American physicians and nurses. After the earthquake, the number of supporters more than doubled. He keeps interested parties updated online, with entries dating back to 2007. That year, he reported: “The hospital in Paillant is doing well and is seeing now more patients, thanks to an improved laboratory and the fact that we have now two full-time physicians. We have now electricity from a generator and a back-up system donated by (local businessman) Victor Boulos. The hospital is now also linked to the rest of the world, thanks to a Canadian organization who gave us an Internet communication system. The doctors have used it two days ago to discuss an interesting case with me.”

 

Gousse wrote about successfully transporting medicine and equipment to the hospital, adding that an x-ray machine was needed for the following trip. He highlighted a letter from Gabrielle Moise, a ninth grade student at Rippowamn Cisqua School in Orlando, who had donated $959.40. As part of a class project, she had hosted a seventh grade dance and an activity night for fifth and sixth graders to raise money for Gousse’s foundation. She also sold handmade jewelry boxes decorated with paints, feathers, glitter and other embellishments. “I hope my donation will benefit the lives of many and will be put to good use,” Moise wrote.

 

In the spring of 2008, Gousse happily reported that the new addition clinic had a foundation “and some walls.” After meeting with electricians, plumbers, doctors and nurses, he handed out clothes to the needy, calling the weekend “our best Easter ever.”

 

Last November, Gousse, pediatrician Ted Kaplan, MD, and Thomas Kelley, MD, an Orlando family practice physician who chairs the Seminole County Medical Society (SCMS) Volunteer Physicians Committee, traveled to Haiti to see patients in the hospital. Gousse called it “a great mission trip,” telling how the Orlando group helped more than 100 Haitians with medical care and gifts of donated clothes and toys. “We were very happy to share the spirit of Thanksgiving with these poor people,” he said.

 

Two weeks before Christmas, Gousse reported: “The construction of the clinic and OR is going full course with expected date of completion set for June 2010.  Any help will be greatly appreciated. We need tiles for the floor, 11 doors, 7 sinks, 4 toilets, 2 sliding doors for OR, windows for the rooms …”

 

Last year, SCMS Foundation helped raise approximately $10,000 to help cover construction costs.

 

“We’ve had great support from the Orlando area, and contributions are extremely important during this unprecedented time of need for our Haitian brothers and sisters,” said Gousse. “Our needs are more specific now, and very long-term. The disaster’s not over. People are dying of infection; there’s nowhere to go for help.”

 

Gousse reluctantly cautioned that even though he does need more volunteers to go to Haiti, he cannot accept additional donations of clothing or canned goods. They’re simply too heavy to transport, unless someone donates air transportation.

 

“We’re having trouble finding a way for us to get there—it’s very, very difficult to find a commercial flight. It’s tough because you pass many Haitians sleeping out in the open. No one can get tents to them because they’re too heavy to transport to such an isolated area. Yet the rainy season is coming.”

 

In Orlando, volunteers have been busy raising funds and collecting supplies, such as crutches and wheelchairs for the growing number of Haitian amputees. Even schoolchildren are participating by donating Band-Aids.

 

“I’m going back to Haiti March 10—sooner if I can find a flight,” he said. “It would be great to get a charter flight or to find a cargo plane that can take supplies. Otherwise, I’m limited. It’s a shame because people are willing to give so generously … to a country with such desperate needs.”