Filling the Gap

Blue Sky Surgical provides muchneeded GI services in Haiti

Every year the Blue Sky Surgical Team provides outpatient general surgical services at the Double Harvest Clinic in Haiti, where many members have served every year since 2007. The team includes general surgeons, pediatric surgeons, anesthesiologists, and CRNAs. March 2019 was their fourth year at the Double Harvest Clinic, a wonderful facility with Haitian staff, including a primary care physician and nurses.

Blue Sky Surgical Team founder and leader, Anthony V. Coletta, MD, MBA, also serves as the Executive Chairman of the Board at Tandigm Health, LLC, a Population Health and Physicians Management Services Organization headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.

The Blue Sky Surgical Team’s purpose is to conduct medical missions through Double Harvest Clinic outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to help “fill the gap” in a nation that has no formal healthcare system or infrastructure—even seven years after its catastrophic earthquake.

Since 2007, Dr. Coletta, a board-certified general surgeon, has volunteered as a surgical missionary to Haiti, performing surgical procedures alongside others looking to help. Following the earthquake of 2010, Dr. Coletta has led a team of doctors, nurses, and medical professionals on these annual missions (sometimes twice annually), traveling to the island with medical supplies and performing general and pediatric surgery on hundreds of patients through the years.

On January 12, 2010, Haiti was devastated by an enormous 7.0 magnitude earthquake that occurred just 16 miles from Port-au-Prince. According to history.com, all of the capital’s hospitals, along with three facilities run by Doctors Without Borders, sustained severe damage. The toll on the people of Haiti remains incalculable. It is estimated that 316,000 people

died, but authorities acknowledge that the exact number will remain unknown; about 1 million people were also displaced.

With an outpouring of help for Haiti from around the globe, the nation has yet to recover fully. Seismic activity and a history of settlement, occupation, and extortion by other countries have contributed to Haiti’s status as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

“I’ve had the privilege of traveling to Haiti to perform surgery on some of the poorest and most underserved citizens of this country, which is one of the most povertystricken in the Western Hemisphere,” said Dr. Coletta. “First, as an individual working with another group, and now as part of a team I founded, Blue Sky Surgical. We travel up to two times a year doing what we can to help, always with the intent of establishing strong, country-based relationships that will someday hopefully lead to a self-sustaining healthcare system in Haiti. Working through the Double Harvest Clinic outside of Port-au-Prince, our team of medical professionals spends 7–10 days onsite, often conducting 70–80 surgeries during that time. While the difficulties of this country and our work sometimes seem overwhelming, we continue to go by the motto: ‘One patient at a time.’”

Medical missionaries, mostly Philadelphia-based, have quietly worked to aid Haiti as much as possible. They have volunteered their time, talent, and resources and committed to making these highly valued visits. At a time when the United States healthcare system is in a state of uncertainty, this humanitarian work is a stark reminder of what a nation without real healthcare options can—and does— look like.

This year, Dr. Coletta’s team reached out to the GI community to obtain supplies for an upcoming trip. Items they regularly need include benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)/prostate medication such as Flomax or Proscar, hemorrhoid ointments, and stool softeners. Although they were not seeking high quantities, these needed medications point to the kind of medical issues patients suffer from without treatment options. Dr. Coletta’s goal is to help Haitian patients feel connected to care, but in the process, he has humbled and inspired many healthcare workers who make the trip with him or hear of his efforts.

In collaboration with the Blue Sky Surgical Team mission, Physicians Endoscopy (PE) reached out to its vendor partners to aid in the effort. Henry Schein made a significant donation of medical supplies, including Proscar tablets, hemorrhoidal ointment, and docusate sodium soft gel capsules. PE also made a personal donation of materials, including electrosurgical pads, cases of dextrose and sodium chloride, as well as Medivators Endogator endoscopy irrigation tubing.

“A good number of our team’s patients are children under age 10, including many orphans,” said Dr. Coletta. “This

Above: The Blue Sky Surgical team unpacks supplies and prepares the operating rooms. Left: Anthony Coletta, MD, with one of his patients at a medical clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

experience never ceases to remind me of how lucky I am to be a healthcare professional in the United States. Too often we forget what great talent, innovation, and resources we have available to us.”

Unfortunately, this year the medical mission trip was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the U.S. State Department raised its travel advisory for Haiti to Level 4 “Do Not Travel,” the decision was made to return to the United States. Dr. Coletta assured patients and partners that they would be back as soon as possible. After the travel advisory for Haiti has lifted, the Blue Sky Surgical Team will once again be looking to the medical community for donations and volunteers and planning their next journey in serving the medical needs of the people of Haiti.

THE NEED IS GREAT. The team at Blue Sky Surgical needs the help of our medical community. Anthony Small donations, as well as sample-size supplies, are a huge contribution V. Coletta, MD, MBA, is Executive Chairman of and an excellent option for travel and shipping. Those wishing the Board of Tandigm Health, LLC. A boardcertified general surgeon and an to contribute to this experienced healthcare business program can contact Dr. Anthony Coletta at dravcoletta@gmail.com. leader, Dr. Coletta brings an exceptional depth of executive and clinical expertise to Tandigm. Learn more at tandigmhealth.com.