UNMC official continues to help in Haiti

A University of Nebraska Medical Center official continues to play a key role in organizing efforts to assist Haiti after the massive earthquake in January. Dr. Rubens Pamies (PAM-EEZ) is the vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNMC and is a native of Haiti. He helped to organize a large meeting March 15th that brought more than 60 people that represented about 50 groups and organizations to Washington D-C on continued efforts to help.
“We are really starting to look at the long-term of how we are going to help rebuild the health care infrastructure and the health care system in Haiti so is there to put some systems in place so we are going to see if we can do that.”
Dr. Pamies says they are trying to come up with manageable solutions that can be delivered in a relatively short period of time.
“The good thing about it is that we involved the Haitian people themselves. The leadership in the Haitian health system was a major part of developing the plan and developing the response that is needed in Haiti. They are going to continue to have these. We have three different committees looking at different aspects. One, the undergraduate medical education. Another one is looking at infrastructure in terms of buildings and so on. The last one is focused on the clinical response.”
Dr Pamies is in Washington D.C. this week and he is hoping to secure funding for a number of these projects.
“I’m going to be meeting with a few of the funders as well as one key funder to help coordinate some of the activities going on now and that is Dr. John Howell from Project Hope.”
Dr. Pamies says there are several goals set. They include developing new models for collaboration between U-S institutions and Haiti.
Developing and updating health sciences curricula to meet the needs of Haiti in the 21st century. They are also exploring the possible use of a cruise ship as an educational facility until other medical facilities can be rebuilt.