Source: NY Times

Hayden’s Note:

[Not to sound cold or heartless, but uhh... why are my tax dollars going towards flying Haitians to New York and New Jersey for treatment?!  I thought we had our military down there already?  Why are Haitians being flown from the Caribbean to NYC on my tax dollar?  Call me heartless, but I have a problem with this... As if enough of our tax dollars weren't already flooding Haiti?  I wonder if the US Government would fly me to New York City if we had a severe tornado and I was injured...?  At times we have been accused of being the world's police force - are we now the world's health care provider? A friend of mine summed it up nicely, "I have a vast amount of sympathy for what happens out there to others, but I choose to make personal donations to Red Cross when and where I see fit, not have my govt mandate what causes I support."]

The United States military airlift of Haitians who were severely injured in the earthquake is expanding this week to deliver patients to hospitals in and around Tampa, Fla., and Atlanta, federal health officials said Tuesday.

Hospitals in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Lyons, N.J., were also put on alert to be ready to receive victims.

The cities chosen to receive Haitians with life-threatening injuries are part of the federal National Disaster Medical System, said Jessica Santillo, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the system, the federal government will reimburse hospitals for the treatment of Haitians.

Last week, United States medical flights from Haiti were suspended for five days after Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida said hospitals there were overwhelmed.

In a letter on Monday to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania offered hospital care for the victims. After the alert on Tuesday, Philadelphia hospital officials and service agencies scrambled to make plans, as state officials said Haitians could begin to arrive before the end of the week.

Dennis Mulligan, executive director of the Nationalities Service Center, a refugee assistance group in Philadelphia, said he was rushing to arrange housing and psychological trauma services for Haitians who might accompany injured victims.

Health officials and military medical officers in Haiti will advise hospitals here of the severity of the Haitians’ conditions before they arrive, so health authorities can direct them to appropriate hospitals, Ms. Santillo said.

There will be no new refugee program for Haitians in the airlift, said Matt Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security. They will be admitted under existing visa programs.