Valley surgeons travel to Haiti to assist with medical relief efforts

PHOENIX – Two surgeons at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center left for Haiti on Saturday, Jan. 23, to help with medical relief efforts for those affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake. Dr. John Gillis, oral and facial surgeon, and Dr. Ara Feinstein, trauma surgeon, will assist with general surgery, anesthesia and infection control at medical facilities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Dr. John Gillis will travel with a group of physicians organized by the non-profit, Children of the Nations. From what he was told, conditions will be rough. He was asked to bring a sleeping bag, water, protein shakes and other necessities to get him through the week.

“I’m excited about doing it, a little nervous about it also,” said Gillis. He said that despite the nerves and uncertainty about conditions, he knows it is a call he must answer. He wants to help people.

Dr. Gillis returns to the U.S. on Friday, Jan. 29.

Dr. Ara Feinstein has been asked to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) International Medical Surgical Response Team (IMSuRT). A newcomer to the Valley, Dr. Feinstein is still a member of the Fla. FEMA IMSuRT. With the current team in Haiti for nearly 12 days, responders were in need of relief. New medical teams were sent to Haiti on Saturday, Jan. 23, and expected to return in about two weeks.

Feinstein, among those deployed to Haiti, will perform trauma surgery in a medical facility just outside Port-au-Prince.

Published on behalf of Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center has been providing medical care to Arizona and the Southwest since 1911. Banner Good Samaritan is owned and operated by Phoenix-based Banner Health, a not-organization. The hospital was named to the 2009-’10 U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list for Gynecology, Heart & Heart Surgery and Kidney Disorders. Banner Good Samaritan has been recognized as a Magnet™ facility by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the highest honor a hospital can earn for its nursing care and practices, and has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the Valley by The Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ in 2007 and 2008 and one of the “Top 100 Hospitals to Work For” by Nursing Professionals magazine. for more information, visit Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center.

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