'Canes Helping Haiti
The worldwide community has mobilized to help survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. At the University of Miami a variety of relief efforts have been mounted.
The University of Miami Reaches Out in Haiti
From in-the-trenches medical response to grassroots initiatives, community outreach, and fundraising efforts yielding millions, the University of Miami Haiti Project has provided essential support to help the survival and recovery of the Haitian people.
As the first medical team on the ground, UM Miller School of Medicine physicians and staff treated more than 250 critically injured patients within 48 hours of arriving in Haiti. After the earthquake, nearly 300 UM doctors, nurses, and other personnel served in Haiti, where we opened a 240-bed tent hospital with operating rooms and advanced technologies. Back at the Miller School, a virtual UM army coordinated relief flights transporting medical staff, supplies, equipment, and dozens of victims to the U.S. They provided telemedicine consultations, fundraising, and communications support.
On campus, students, faculty, and staff conducted fundraising campaigns and donation drives for essential items. The Haitian Student Organization, Student Government, and the more than 70 other student organizations that contributed to Haiti relief efforts and will continue to do so in the months to come. Academic units throughout the University are also contributing their unique talents to help with recovery efforts.
As efforts in Haiti shift to long-term recovery and rebuilding, the University’s role has also transitioned. Our Global Institute for Community Health and Development transferred the UM field hospital to Project Medishare, our partner in Haiti, and United for Haiti, a Haitian nonprofit foundation created to establish a national hospital and trauma system and emergency response plan. The University continues to have a presence in Haiti, as always, and we are more dedicated than ever to our ongoing programs there.
Working together, the UM community raised $4.4 million to help fund the humanitarian mission of our Global Institute, an interdisciplinary program led by the Miller School that focuses on creating and sustaining better health for communities throughout the Western Hemisphere and beyond.
To make a donation to the Global Institute, which supports our medical work in Haiti, you can donate online by clicking here, or send your check made out to the “University of Miami-Global Institute” to P.O. Box 248073, Coral Gables, Florida, 33124.