By Warren Bromberg
The urology team is pleased to report a successful inaugural HUFH mission. Warren Bromberg, MD and Joanne Hall, RN saw 55 patients in two days at Open Door, several of whom required urgent critical intervention. Men were seen with urinary retention and obstructive uropathy, massive hydroceles, kidney stones, testicular cancer, hematuria, urethral stricture disease, infections, hernias, and severe hypertension. Much needed medicines were administered for infections (ciprofloxicin or doxycycline) and hypertension and referrals to the Open Door primary care physicians or to a surgeon or urologist at Justinien Hospital were established. The primary care physicians joined us for a number of instructional patient visits and were most appreciative.
One of the highlights of the Open Door mission proved to be the community educational event attended by about 40 people of all ages. Joanne and Warren were joined by Jean Moise, a US engineer with Haitian roots, who served as the translator. For nearly 2 hours this lively interactive session covered topics in urology such as anatomy, urinary infections, sexual function and disease prevention, contraception, kidney stones, pubertal issues, and the importance of checking blood pressure, and dispelled many unhealthy myths. The session would have continued well into the night were it not for the dinner bell!
Prior to the mission Dr. Bromberg contacted Dr. Jory Desir, the director of urology at Justinien Hospital, to establish a working relationship and assess what he needed most. The urology team worked with Dr. Desir in his public clinic consulting on difficult cases, assisting with procedures, participating in resident conferences, making pre- and post-operative rounds, and performing ultrasound studies. At the hospital, the urology team participated in a multitude of surgeries including open prostatectomies, orchiectomies, transurethral prostatectomies and bladder tumor resections, supra pubic cystotomies, hydrocelectomies, urethral reconstruction, drainage of an abscess, and cystoscopies. Dr. Desir proved to be a caring, dedicated, and talented urologist so a collaborative relationship was readily established. The urology team provided much needed donated endoscopic equipment and Dr. Desir was eager to hone his endoscopic skills. Joanne shared her nearly 4 decades of nursing expertise with the clinic and OR staff and helped to organize the department on many levels. The team left a trove of donated educational videos since travel to conferences is financially prohibitive for the Haitian doctors.
Erica Bromberg and Michael Boyajian, pre-med post-baccalaureate students, joined this mission and proved to be invaluable and tireless assistants in the clinic and in the OR. Not only were they immersed in the direct delivery of health care but the mission solidified their interest in becoming doctors.
