Dr. Joseph Weistroffer, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Feinberg Medical School, will depart for Haiti on Friday. He will be in the second wave of a Chicago-wide medical response to the Jan. 13 earthquake.
Weistroffer is part of a medical response team collaborating to send medical supplies and health care relief to Haiti, according to a press release. Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Rush University will contribute team members.
“We want to assist with the identified needs of people on the ground in Haiti,” said Dr. Robert Murphy, director of the Northwestern Center for Global Health and leader of Northwestern’s relief effort.
According to Murphy, more than 45 Northwestern volunteers, comprised of clinicians, surgeons, nurses and x-ray technicians wanted to contribute to the response.
The Chicago-wide medical team is partnering with the International Medical Corps (IMC). The IMC will be responsible for ground logistics, such as accommodations and physicians’ schedules in Port-au-Prince.
Northwestern’s Center for Global Health is responsible for the international activities of the medical school, taking control of dispatching various medical teams to Haiti. With a two week rotation, the slotting of various physicians to Haiti is only part one, according to Murphy.
It’s like a round robin,” said Carolyn Baer, deputy director of the Northwestern Center for Global Health. “We had a general team of three leave yesterday, including one from Northwestern. Another group of eight is leaving Friday, two of whom are from Northwestern. Additional teams are scheduled to depart Feb. 1 and Feb. 3.”
The next phase of the medical response is “taking patients here,” according to Murphy. With the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern’s specialization in spinal cord industries, patients with severe spinal cord damage may be treated at Northwestern’s Chicago facilities starting Wednesday.
While Northwestern is donating a large number of supplies, the University of Chicago has offered two private planes.
In addition, there has been a very generous response from the private community in Chicago, said Murphy, citing select wealthy individuals who have loaned the team airplanes.
Other Chicago hospitals have also volunteered equipment and Walgreens donated prescriptions and supplies.
Departing from Northwestern on Friday, Weistroffer said his main goal was to provide orthopedic care to patients. He expressed his dedication to the efforts, stating: “If I need to sleep on the ground in a bed roll, that’s fine.”