The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Joins Forces with Justinien Hospital in Haiti To Improve Maternal and Child Health

The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in partnership with Justinien Hospital in Haiti today announced their efforts to seek donations for the development of much needed women’s and children’s health services in the country’s Northern Department.  The funds raised will be used to train Haitian doctors in improved prenatal care as well as enhanced methods for diagnosing and treating cervical cancer. The plans also include the expansion of immunization of children to include  pneumococcal vaccine and train doctors in other hospitals to duplicate the sickle cell anemia screening and treatment program pioneered by The University of Miami at Justinien Hospital.  

"This new initiative of improvement of maternal- infantile health will bring the hospital closer to achieving its goals of training its staff and delivering the highest standards of care.  We want to thank you for your commitment to find new support for this valuable program,” said Dr Geto Dube, Medical Director, Justinien Hospital.

The partnership began 20 years ago when The University of Miami Miller School of Medicine wrote a successfully funded grant to establish a family medicine residency program in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. The program is the first ever family medicine residency training program to be established in the resource-poor country and, to date, has produced more than 70 family doctors who are still working in 

Learn more about this partnership by visiting friendsofhopitaljustinien.org. Donations by check can be made directly to Friends of Justinien. To donate by credit card or paypal go to HealthShareGlobal.com/donate and add the memo: For Friends of Justinien.

About Arthur M. Fournier, M.D.

Professor Emeritus - Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, University of Miami Leonard Miller School of Medicine

Dr. Fournier graduated from Merrimack College and Tufts University School of Medicine. His residency training at the hospitals affiliated with the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine was followed by two years voluntary service in the National Health Service Corps on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. 

Dr. Fournier’s academic career at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami began in 1978. He served as a Professor of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine, Vice-Chairman of Family Medicine and Associate Dean for Community Health.

Dr. Fournier taught at every year level at the Miller School of Medicine and also taught residents from training programs in both Family Medicine and Internal Medicine. He has pioneered innovative primary care education models that bring preventive and primary health care to the underserved both in South Florida and Haiti. These innovations include health fairs and model teaching clinics serving minorities, inner city school children, the homeless migrant farm-workers and immigrants. In 1994, he, along with Dr. Barth Green, founded Project Medishare, a charity dedicated to improving heath in Haiti. Since then, he has made over one hundred and fifty trips to Haiti, supervising medical student volunteers and providing direct

patient care. In 1998, he received a grant from the Open Society Institute to establish a family medicine residency-training program for Haitian physicians. More recently, he founded Healthshare Global to support medical education in Haiti and develop innovative health programs there.

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