Haitian patients flood Miami hospitals

The World

Haitian airlifts have resumed, but they’re still flying almost exclusively to Florida ? and to Miami’s overburdened hospitals. According to Florida Governor Charlie Crist, the state has taken more than 500 injured evacuees from the Haiti earthquake since it struck three weeks ago. Doctors there say 150 of those have gone to two hospitals in Miami.

Dr. Mark McKenney has seen the Haitian airlifts from both sides. At tent hospitals near the Port-au-Prince airport, he saw firsthand the urgent need to get patients to better medical facilities. And back in Miami, he’s seen a large percentage ? too large, he says ? of those patients come for urgent and costly care. McKenney is Medical Director at Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, and Chief of Surgery at University of Miami Hospital.

We also speak to Dr. Eneida Roldan, president and CEO of Jackson Health System ? the only public health care system in Miami. She speaks to the big picture of what airlifted patients are costing the strapped medical system and the political struggle she faces to fund their care.

Invest in independent global news

The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!