Sister of Mercy volunteers return from trip to Haiti

From the press release:

A team of five medical volunteers representing Asheville-based Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care (SOMUC) recently returned from Haiti, where they treated 659 patients over the course of five days. This was the fifth time SOMUC has sent representatives to Haiti, which is still recovering from the devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck in January 2010.

On previous trips, patients had to trek many miles to a makeshift clinic set up in the courtyard of a hospital that was destroyed in the quake. On this trip, however, medics were able to travel directly to patients thanks to a four-wheel-drive vehicle donated by SOMUC. The new 2012 Volkswagen Amarok was purchased using donations from SOMUC clients, vendors and employees as well as the community. The vehicle remained in Haiti with Drs. Vladimyr and Merline Roseau, who continue to use it for mobile triage services.

An estimated 600,000 Haitians have been living in tents since the earthquake, with these living conditions contributing to rampant medical maladies. SOMUC volunteers treated patients for ailments including fungal infections, worms and hunger, the latter due to the fact that most children in Haiti eat only once every other day. They also treated many people for cholera, which affects an estimated 700,000 Haitians.

This trip, which was led by SOMUC Medical Director Dr. Ellen Lawson, was part of Sisters of Mercy’s ongoing “Have a Heart for Haiti” efforts, which to date have collected more than $33,000 in cash and pledges. Sisters of Mercy staff have raised money via a cookbook sale and golf tournament, and instead of having a service awards banquet in early 2010, they canceled the event and donated the money to Haiti relief.

Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care has also received a great deal of support from its vendors and the community. Dr. David Stern of Practice Velocity made a substantial donation for the purchase of the Mercy Wagon; Aidarex Pharmaceuticals has provided an estimated $98,000 in medication to date, along with nearly 20,000 antibiotics for this trip alone; WNC OBGYN donated powdered formula for this mission; and the North Carolina Baptist Men have coordinated logistics for each trip.

Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care continues to seek donations to fund future trips, and all gifts are tax-deductible. For more information or to donate, contact the Catherine McAuley MERCY Foundation at (828) 281-2598, or send donations marked “Haiti” to CMMF, P. O. Box. 16367, Asheville, NC 28816 or on-line at www.somsc.org/mercy.

About Asheville-based Sisters of Mercy Services: SOMS includes Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care, Mercy Occupational Medicine, Frances Warde Family Health and Catherine McAuley MERCY Foundation. In 2011, SOMS provided more than $1.5 million in uncompensated care and saved the community an estimated $11.5 million through ER avoidance. This year marks the 112th year of service by the Sisters of Mercy in Western North Carolina and the 27th year of existence for the local, nonprofit Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care.

Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care offers affordable treatment of non-life threatening illnesses and injuries by board-certified physicians at four locations in Asheville, Weaverville and Brevard. To date, the organization has served more than a million patients in the WNC region. No appointment is necessary, and the Asheville locations are open seven days a week, 362 days a year.