• Press Release

Mount Sinai Medical Team in Haiti Leading New York Effort to Help Earthquake Survivors

Mount Sinai has supplied doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, as well as more than two tons of equipment, to help in relief efforts.

  • New York, NY
  • (January 25, 2010)

The Mount Sinai Medical Center is leading a relief effort for earthquake survivors in Haiti, with nearly 30 medical personnel currently serving at National Hospital in Port-au-Prince. To date, Mount Sinai has provided more than two tons of equipment and supplies for this endeavor with the assistance of the Greater New York Hospital Association.

Immediately following the earthquake, Mount Sinai coordinated an effort to assemble and fly medical and surgical supplies to Haiti. Ernest Benjamin, MD, Chief of the Division of Critical Care in the Department of Surgery and Director of the Surgical ICU, flew to Haiti along with Jean Louis Dupiton, MD, a graduate of Mount Sinai's critical care fellowship, who now practices at Elmhurst Hospital Center. They were accompanied by Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, United Nations Deputy Special Envoy to Haiti. Dr. Benjamin took medical supplies and medications provided by Mount Sinai. After their plane landed, Dr. Benjamin treated many people at the airport before going to the National Hospital.

A second Mount Sinai team reached Haiti on January 20 to support Dr. Benjamin at National Hospital and bring additional medications and supplies. The team is comprised of medical professionals, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, a pediatrician, nurses and technicians. Staff and faculty from Mount Sinai Queens, Elmhurst and Queens Hospital Centers, Maimonides, and Beth Israel joined in this endeavor. Additional medications and supplies are being sent to the team in Haiti tomorrow. Since their arrival at National Hospital on Wednesday evening, the team has already organized operating rooms and recovery space, coordinated the flow of patients to the hospital, and performed at least 55 emergency surgical procedures.

Michael L. Marin, MD, Chair of the Department of Surgery, Lester Silver, MD, Chief of Plastic Surgery, and Michael McCarry, RN, Senior Vice President of Perioperative Services, are among those currently working at National Hospital to support Dr. Benjamin in his deputized role as Director of Critical Care and the recovery room at National Hospital.

"The enormity of this tragedy has profoundly affected us all, most especially our faculty, staff, students and friends with loved ones in Haiti," said Wayne E. Keathley, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital. "We will continue to do our part for those affected by this disaster."

The Mount Sinai medical personnel who are in Haiti as part of the relief effort include:

Jeanne Ambroise, RN Duckens Louis
Kathleen Ashby, RN Abigail Lynn, MD
Myrline Belzince, RN Kelly Marie Mann, MD
Ernest Benjamin, MD Michael L. Marin, MD
Sophia Cooper, RN Victor Marino, MD
Valerie Davis, RN Michael McCarry, RN
Vidya Dayal, RN Irene Osborn, MD
Armando De Guzman, RN Sasan Roayaie, MD
James Gladstone, MD Lester Silver, MD
Kimmarie Hammond Ted Tully
Augie Inneh Thomas Witschi, MD
Claude Henry Jean, MD Stephen Yang, MD

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. Founded in 1852, Mount Sinai today is a 1,171-bed tertiary-care teaching facility that is internationally acclaimed for excellence in clinical care. Last year, nearly 60,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients, and there were nearly 450,000 outpatient visits to the Medical Center.

Mount Sinai School of Medicine is internationally recognized as a leader in groundbreaking clinical and basic science research, as well as having an innovative approach to medical education. With a faculty of more than 3,400 in 38 clinical and basic science departments and centers, Mount Sinai ranks among the top 20 medical schools in receipt of National Institute of Health (NIH) grants. For more information, please visit www.mountsinai.org.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

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