HTH PROVIDERS RESPOND ....

Upon hearing the news of the Asian tsunami, Dr. Susan Jamieson, an HTH physician practicing in Hong Kong, immediately traveled to southern Sri Lanka to provide desperately needed medical aid and to vaccinate hundreds of victims against waterborne diseases. Dr.Jamieson recounts her 5-day experience with daily journal entries accompanied by a series of images. <Click here to hear her story and view her pictures>

HTH's Regional Physician Advisor in Bangkok reports that there were numerous medical evacuations to Bangkok from Phuket and other affected areas in Thailand. Immediately following the tsunami several private hospitals in Bangkok, including HTH partner facilities BNH Hospital, Bumrungrad Hospital and Bangkok General Hospital sent medical teams and private ground ambulances south to provide care to the injured and take them to Bangkok for additional treatment. In an effort to assist people to locate their loved ones, BNH Hospital www.bnhhospital.com and Bumrungrad Hospital, www.bumrungrad.com have maintained updated listings of patients indicating both their home country and their treatment status (inpatient, outpatient, or discharged).

Private hospitals in Phuket, the Phuket International Hospital and Bangkok Phuket Hospital, remain opened despite their proximity to the destruction. By posting pictures on its website, Phuket International Hospital www.phuket-inter-hospital.co.th was instrumental in re-uniting a 2 year old Swedish boy with his family after his mother perished and his father was hospitalized elsewhere in Thailand. Bangkok Phuket Hospital www.phukethospital.com maintains a current listing of people who have received treatment there.

In Malaysia, the northern states of Penang, Kedah and Langkawi Island were primarily affected, sparing the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. While most of the injured were treated at public hospitals, HTH partner facility Gleneagles Medical Centre www.gleneagles-penang.com in Penang made a donation toward the tsunami relief effort. HTH's Regional Physician Advisor in Penang expressed concern for neighbors in Indonesia who were deeply affected by the tsunami.

Immediately after the disaster, HTH Partner Facility, the Apollo Hospitals Group www.apollohospitals.com joined the massive relief effort, offering free medical assistance for the tsunami-affected in India and Sri Lanka. Apollo Hospitals in Colombo, Sri Lanka and Chennai (Madras), sent medical teams directly into affected villages, and are soliciting personal contributions from employees to send to the tsunami-affected areas.

Medical Services in the Maldives are limited, but the two hospitals in Male remained open to care for those injured by the Tsumani. With thousands homeless in the Maldives, HTH Partner facility ADK Hospital www.adkenterprises.com admitted 38 patients immediately following the disaster.

In South Africa, Netcare International www.netcare.co.za, a group of 60 private hospitals based in Johannesburg, sent a rescue team to Phuket, Thailand to evacuate South African citizens from the disaster. Netcare's team consisted of six doctors, 10 paramedics and five nurses traveling on a Boeing 767. The team returned with nearly 65 sick and injured.