HHS Secretary Leavitt Visits HHS Commissioned Corps Officers Aboard USNS Comfort in Haïti

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Michael O. Leavitt meets with patients at the Hôpital Universitaire de la Paix, in Port-au-Prince, Haïti, on September 7, 2007. Secretary Leavitt was in Haïti to see the work of HHS officers and their partners from the U.S. Department of Defense and non-governmental organizations who are serving on the four-month humanitarian mission of the USNS Comfort in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Photo by MC2 Steven King, U.S. Navy, U.S. Department of Defense)

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Michael O. Leavitt and HHS U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers aboard the USNS Comfort, anchored offshore of Port-au-Prince, Haïti, on September 7, 2007. Front row, left to right: LCDR Lisa Starnes, LCDR Sandra Bender, LCDR Sue Larkin, LTJG Paula Gomez, and CDR Nita Sood. Back row, from left to right: CAPT Angel Rodríguez-Espada, CAPT Craig Shepherd, Secretary Michael O. Leavitt, and CAPT Phil Rapp.

Over the course of the mission, of which Haïti is the ninth of 12 stops, HHS has placed three successive teams in the field to provide primary medical and dental care, veterinary services and training, and renovations to the environmental and sanitation systems connected to local hospitals and health clinics. Secretary Leavitt met and observed these professionals at work as they were providing care at the Hôpital Universitaire de la Paix, in Port-au-Prince, and spoke with Haitian patients who were receiving care. The Haitian Minister of Health and Population, the Honorable Robert Auguste, M.D.; the Director of the Hôpital Universitaire de la Paix, Marie Y. Nöel Saint Fleur, M.D.; and the U.S. Ambassador to Haïti, the Honorable Janet A. Sanderson, received Secretary Leavitt at the hospital and toured the site with him to view HHS and other U.S. government personnel involved in providing immunizations, pediatric care, dental care, optometry, and training in veterinary medicine.

After flying by helicopter to the USNS Comfort, anchored offshore in Port-au-Prince Harbor, Secretary Leavitt met with HHS/USPHS Commissioned Corps officers on the ship, and congratulated them for their work and commitment to help people in need in the Americas. He also expressed to CAPT Bruce Boynton, Commanding Officer of the Medical Treatment Facility on the USNS Comfort, how proud HHS is to be involved in such an important medical and humanitarian mission, which is part of the President’s Initiative to Advance the Cause of Social Justice in the Western Hemisphere, and his hope for a continued and even stronger partnership between DoD and HHS.

In speaking to the Haitian and international media at the Hôpital Universitaire de la Paix, and before departing from the Port-au-Prince Airport, Secretary Leavitt emphasized the mission of the Comfort is only one aspect of the relationship between the United States and Haïti on health. U.S. government health-related investments in Haïti will total more than $200 million in Fiscal Year 2007, including approximately $78 million through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief; Haïti is one of the 15 focus countries of the Emergency Plan. "Our effort is to create a sustainable, ongoing partnership with Haïti," the Secretary declared; he added, "Health is a universal language."

Prior to arriving in Haïti on September 1, 2007, the USNS Comfort team had delivered care at medical and veterinary treatment sites in Belize, Guatemala, Panamá, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Perú, Ecuador, and Colombia. Next on the hospital ship's itinerary are Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and Guyana.

For more information:

• USNS Comfort Photo Gallery
• View Video: USPHS Onboard USNS Comfort (U.S. Navy)
• Comfort Hosts U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (U.S. Navy)

Last revised: December 14, 2007