Heroes at Home

August 6, 2010

For many staff and patients at the hospital, the earthquake in Haiti hit close to home. The greater Boston area has the third-largest Haitian community in the nation following Miami and New York City. More than 400 Mass General staff members hail from Haiti and spent weeks anxiously awaiting news of loved ones back home.“Every member of our community contributed to the relief effort,” says Jeanette Ives Erickson, RN, senior vice president for Patient Care and chief nurse at MGH. “Some of us were on the front lines of the disaster, others of us covered extra shifts to allow our teammates to deploy and still others donated financially to the Haitian Relief Fund.”

Jeff Davis, senior vice president for Human Resources, made available international phone lines at the hospital, cell phones and Internet access so employees were able to reach out to their family and friends in Haiti. Mr. Davis and his team also instituted a unique program which guarantees regular pay and benefits for up to two weeks per year to any hospital employee who deploys with a national or international disaster team.

“In a way, we were helping our extended family,” says Sylvia K. Perry, NP, who with Stephen Southard, MD, treated Dr. Ronan’s patients while he served on the USNS Comfort in Haiti. “It is the right thing to help our less-fortunate neighbors build and re-build.”

“Haiti is woven into the fabric of MGH,” agrees Danica Mari, MBA, administrative manager for the Thomas S. Durant Fellowship in Refugee Medicine at MGH. Ms. Mari provided much-needed support to team members who deployed to Haiti. “I am proud and honored to work at a place that is so heavily invested in the welfare of the global community.”