MEDICAL MISSIONARIES INC

Medical Missionaries sends sea containers of medical supplies, medical equipment, food, and clothing to 8 to 10 poor countries each year to help partner organizations build the healthcare infrastructure in those countries.&nbsp; In 2007, Medical Missionaries opened a clinic/hospital in Thomassique, Haiti, the first permanent medical facility in this area of about 125,000 residents.&nbsp; The clinic is staffed by 29 Haitian doctors, nurses, midwives, technicians, and support people, and is fully supported by Medical Missionaries.&nbsp; Visiting teams of U.S. medical specialists travel to the clinic about 4 times a year to treat difficult cases and to provide professional development to the Haitian staff.&nbsp; The clinic serves about 25,000 to 30,000 patients each year.<br /> <br /> In 2009, Medical Missionaries started to address some of the underlying causes of common illnesses treated at the clinic, especially contaminated water and malnutrition.&nbsp; By year's end, we completed a study of two home-based water purification systems and are prepared to introduce them to the community.&nbsp;&nbsp; We also completed a pilot program to treat severely malnourished children.&nbsp; Both of these programs are continuing throughout 2011.&nbsp; With funding from a foundation, we helped 2,500 households (about 15,000 people) have home-based water purification in 2010.&nbsp; We plan to add another 2,500 households in 2011.&nbsp; We also continue to treat about 20 severely malnourished children every month.<br /> <div><br /></div><div>Assistance from a foundation has allowed us to set up Community Health Centers in four outlying villages in the Thomassique region (Haiti).&nbsp; Each village has formed a community health committee and committed space for the clinic.&nbsp; They have nominated candidates to become community health workers.&nbsp; Our clinic staff reviewed the candidates, selected those with most potential, and trained them over a two to three month period to assume their roles.&nbsp; A doctor visits each community clinic periodically. <br /></div><div>&nbsp;</div> Early in 2010, we began construction on a new wing to accommodate overnight patients.&nbsp; Construction of the wing was almost complete by November, when the cholera epidemic struck Haiti.&nbsp; The wing became a cholera isolation ward for the clinic, treating as many as 40 overnight patients at a time.