MIAMI, FL — A Miami Children’s surgical team led by John Ragheb, MD, MCH Director of Neurosurgery, traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti in March, bringing hope and healing to families of children with hydrocephalus, and leaving a legacy of better healthcare within the tiny island republic.
Working in affiliation with Project Medishore, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing medical care to Haiti, Dr. Ragheb and his team arrived with surgical equipment and supplies to provide life-saving intervention for babies with hydrocephalus, a disease that causes cerebrospinal fluid to accumulate in the brain.
During the three-day visit, the team performed endoscopic neurosurgery on 17 children, creating new pathways for fluid drainage within the youngster’s brains and halting the accumulation of fluid. Previously, hydrocephalus went untreated in Haiti, leading to the inevitable disability or death of afflicted children.
The Miami Children’s medical exchange promises lasting benefits for the people of Haiti. During the visit, Dr. Ragheb trained a Haitian neurosurgeon to perform the corrective surgery and supplied him with donated equipment for future interventions.
“Through the extraordinary efforts of Miami Children’s operating room staff and a Jackson Memorial Hospital anesthesia team, we provided life saving care to children in need. Most importantly, we gave the families hope for a normal life.”
About Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Where Children Matter Most ™ (2024)
Nicklaus Children's Hospital is South Florida's #1 nonprofit, freestanding specialty licensed hospital exclusively for children. With more than 850 physicians, including over 500 pediatric subspecialists, the hospital and its network of outpatient centers and offices serve close to 70% of children in the Miami market. The only hospital "where your child matters most™,” Nicklaus Children's is home to the region's most advanced Kenneth C. Griffin Surgical Tower, and its centers of excellence Helen & Jacob Shaham Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute, the Nicklaus Children’s Orthopedics, Sports Health and Spine Institute, Nicklaus Children’s Brain Institute and Nicklaus Children’s Heart Institute. The Nicklaus Children's Hospital's Transfer Center, Nick4Kids, and LifeFlight are responsible for transporting and saving close to 5,000 lives a year. Our 307-bed hospital, which is renowned for excellence in all aspects of pediatric medicine, has many specialty programs routinely ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report since 2008. Nicklaus Children's is also home to the largest pediatric teaching program in the southeastern United States and since 2003 has been designated an American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet facility, the nursing profession's most prestigious institutional honor. For more information, please visit www.nicklauschildrens.org.