Coordination of the effort-by Dr. Talmor

The effort at the Hospital was being coordinated by US Aid a federal group funded by the US Government and The Clinton foundation. There seemed to be constant conflict with the Dominican Government which was anxious to return the refuges to Haiti as quickly as possible as they were illegal aliens. The day before we arrived, forty patients were acutely transferred by helicopter to a “rehabilitation center” in Haiti. The night of our arrival we were told that the government refused to provide food for the patients anymore I think they were being fed mostly rice and beans twice a day. Helicopters and ambulances were constantly coming and going with patients. The most critical were taken to Santo Domingo. A few made it to the USS Comfort before we got there. Some with surgical needs were brought in from the “rehabilitation” center. It was our hope that given the recent outflow of aid and support that the patients would receive as good or better care in Haiti, but in returning to NY and watching the news this it seems this is not likely to be the case. Many Dominicans expressed their concern that they would have to spend so much caring for the Haitians, but would not receive any aid themselves. Some implied that Haiti was always looking for a handout, and would never become self- sufficient as long as so much aid was provided. There was clearly deep animosity between the neighboring groups, though most of the Dominican we met were very saddened and willing to help us. Our “assistant” Elvis arrived early in the morning to drive us up the dirt road to the hospital each day (about 2 miles). He initially refused to take money for this.