About Us

Dr. Ted Higgins has had a heart for Haiti since 1981. During his fourth year of general surgery residency at Yale, he and his wife, Kim, spent a three-month rotation at Hospital Albert Schweitzer in DesChapelles, Haiti. They were touched by the Haitian people, their culture, and their needs. They were inspired by Dr. Larimer and Gwen Mellon who devoted their lives to transformative work in healthcare, local economies, and access to water.

Through their church in Kansas City, Ted began annual trips to the Dominican Republic where teams provided healthcare to sugar cane cutters and their families in the bateys. Seeing surgical needs of all kinds, Ted began operating in a borrowed clinic in 1992, when the Good Samaritan Hospital was a dream under construction. It’s now a busy hospital with Dominican surgeons on staff; Ted’s recent trips have been to train them in vascular and general surgical techniques.

In 2010, Ted and Kim were introduced to Higgins Brothers SurgiCenter. During his annual week-long trips to Fonds-Parisien, Ted operates on about 60 patients. He appreciates the excellent accommodations and support of HCM and sees the immediate need for more surgical capacity. The Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope provides just that.

The Surgicenter is now complete and welcoming patients! A beautiful inauguration ceremony was held December 10, 2016. Partners from all over traveled to Fonds-Parisien to celebrate with us the completion of this wonderful gift. We are so grateful for the generosity, love, and prayers that made this new addition to our mission possible. We can’t thank Dr. Ted Higgins enough for his incredible generosity and desire to train up Haitian surgeons in this incredible facility.

Following church on Sunday, Dr. Higgins and his team saw patients and performed surgeries in the new surgicenter. On Monday, Minister of Health, Dr. Daphne Benoit-Delsoin came to visit the HCM campus at Fonds-Parisien to celebrate the inauguration. We were so grateful for Dr. Benoit-Delsoin and many others that were able to commemorate the day with us!

Surgical space in Haiti is in high demand. Teams from Heart to Heart International as well as independent surgeons are ready to come to HCM. They are eager to use the surgical facility so conveniently located, about an hour east of Port-au-Prince on the main road to the Dominican Republic.

Ted chose to name the surgical center in honor of his father Edward and uncle Paul. Both surgeon brothers were inspired by their father and grandfather to carry on a solid medical practice in Cortland, New York. Dr. Edward trained in ENT at Syracuse Upstate Medical Center under Dr. Gordon Hoople and Dr. Paul trained in General Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Center under Dr. Alfred Blaylock. They served in World War II as physicians – Edward in Europe and Paul in the Pacific – and embraced the international work of medicine. They chose to bring their skills back home to the community where they grew up. In their shared 38-year practice, they were role models to medical students, physicians, and the wider community for their exemplary patient care and civic involvement.

HCM is so grateful to Dr. Ted and Kim Higgins for their partnership and their generosity which has made this dream a reality. The new Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope enables our medical staff and visiting surgeons to save even more lives and will open new doors for sharing the love and good news of Christ. Thank you, Dr. Ted and Kim Higgins, for continuing to partner with and invest in this medical effort.

We want to say a special thanks to Hospital Corporation of America for their more than generous donation of medical equipment including hospital beds, operating tables, and surgical equipment.

We would also like to thank the following organizations and individuals for their contributions toward building costs, medical equipment, and shipping costs:

• Ortho-4 States
• Premier Surgical Center and Foundation
• Greater Kansas City Foundation
• Greater Foundation of Southeast Kansas
• Dr. Brad and Susan Coy
• Dr. Christopher and Lynda Banwart
• Dr. Brian Ipsen
• Dr. Derek Miller
• Dr. David Baker
• Dr. Cheryl Fogarty

The Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope provides many opportunities to help the underserved people of Haiti. We presently take a surgical mission team quarterly to Haiti from Kansas City.  While there can now operate with our Haitian team of surgeons and nurses handling patients that have been referred for surgical evaluation from all over the country. Many of these patients cannot afford payment of their surgery in Haitian hospitals. We do ask for donations for our services, but all patients needing surgery receive our care whether or not they can provide funds.

Besides helping our Haitian surgical staff with complex cases, we look forward to teams providing teaching opportunities for our 6 nurses handling perioperative care. This training is essential for improving the level of medical care we hope to deliver.

We have a team of nurse midwives that assist with over 700 deliveries a year at Haitian Christian Mission. Our Ob-Gyn surgeon performs C- sections and emergency procedures when indicated. Assisting with the teaching of our nurse midwives and with family planning is also a goal of our program.

Over the past several years we have developed a wonderful teaching relationship with the General Hospital in Port Aux Prince surgical staff. Seven surgeons from Kansas City operated at Higgins Brothers Surgicenter in 2017. Each surgeon was assigned a general surgical chief resident that operated across the OR table for the week. We were able to perform over 400 procedures on 324 patients in 2017. These included general, vascular, obstetrics, gynecology, urology, and podiatry. Follow-up is provided by our Haitian team and our quarterly mission visits.

We need to raise funds to train young talented Haitian students to become nurses, doctors, and medical technicians. A scholarship program has been started to provide funds for these students. The cost for medical school is roughly $5000 per year. These future medical providers will ensure that our facility and the quality of care will be sustainable.

Our relationship with the medical services provided at HCM has grown. Our emergency room/ trauma area is now a 24/ 7 facility with the ER physicians under our employment. They handle many cases that were previously referred to Port Aux Prince, allowing treatment to occur in a more rapid fashion, and in many cases negating the need for transport.

2017 Review

The HBSH was dedicated December 12, 2016 at Haitian Christian Mission in FondsParisien, Haiti. Since that time...

7 different surgeons from Kansas City each volunteered a week of surgery at HBSH

This totaled 11 operating weeks (2 surgeons made multiple trips), or 60 operating days

2 surgeons from the University of Florida also donated 1 week each

324 patients were treated with over 400 surgical procedures performed.

These included general, vascular, obstetric, gynecological, urology and podiatry procedures.

25 different USA nurses volunteered a week of service in the operating and recovery room.

3 nurses made all 4 surgical mission trips

4 other nurses made at least 2 trips with the team

8 nurses students were exposed to mission surgery with the team

8 anesthesia providers volunteered, (1 anesthesiologist - all 4 trips; 7 different CRNAs)

70 volunteers in all for the 4 separate mission trips, (70 weeks)

We work with the chief surgical residents from the General Hospital in Port Aux Prince during our visits. Each surgical resident is assigned a surgeon to shadow for the day and assists in all surgical procedures. We have worked with 6 different chief surgical residents of both general and urological surgery.

Current Haitian Staff at HBSC

In December 2017 (one year after the dedication) we interviewed and hired a Haitian surgical team to perform surgeries on a daily/ weekly basis. They are capable of performing both emergent and elective cases. Complex elective cases are handled when the US volunteer teams arrive.

Our Haitian team is composed of:

2 surgeons, (ob/ gyn, and general surgeon)

1 anesthesiologist

1 medical director

2 emergency staff physicians

6 operating room and recovery room nurses were hired, ( both elective and emergent care)

1 maintenance/ custodial care worker

1 building supervisor

Future Plans for HBSC

 Providing medical care today for those in great need is the short-term goal.  Providing training to future physicians to take care of the next generation of Haitians is the longer-term goal that we are providing.

 We will need to eventually expand. Equipment provided by Hospital Corporation of America, (HCA), has been essential for our growth and development. Individual donations also have been extremely gratifying.

Our plans for the future include:

1) A 3rd operating room to accommodate the demand.

2) A large utility room for instrument cleaning and storage.

3) A laboratory for hematology and pathology.

4) A radiology suite to develop a program for basic evaluation.

Our fund raising is important to sustain the project:

$150,000/ year for Medical staff

(5) General surgeon, ob- gyn surgeon, anesthesiologist, medical director, ER physicians, and stipend for surgical residents.

(6) Perioperative nurses

$50,000/year.........fuel for generator, shipping equipment, repairs and maintenance,

$100/day.............for surgical volunteers, includes room, board, transportation, and translators at HCM

There are two ways to support Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope:

• Online directly: http://gkccf.kimbia.com/higg05
• Sending a check to Greater Kansas City Community Foundation ( growyourgiving.org )

We have a Founder's Club for sustained generous donors committed to our project. This requires a yearly contribution of $10,000 or more over 5 years. These funds will be used to augment the staff salaries so further expansion and upgrades can be done. Private conference will be arranged.

The Higgins Brothers Surgical Center for Hope appreciates any gift you can make. You can be a part of this!

Participate

If you wish to participate in a surgical mission trip to Higgins Brothers Surgicenter in FondsParisien, Haiti, send an email to: tedhig@gmail.com or Michael Harenza :  michael.harenza@hcamidwest.com