Ti Kay Haiti


 

About

Ti Kay's primary focus is tuberculosis treatment. After the 2010 earthquake, the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince was not functional. The head nurse of the General Hospitals outpatient TB program and Megan Coffee, MD/PhD, who is from the New York area, established an inpatient program at the Hospital for the care of patients with TB and HIV as well as an outpatient treatment program to provide effective follow-up care and ensure the successful completion of treatment.

25% of the total patient population (both inpatients and outpatients) at the clinic are coinfected with HIV. On average, four patients a week are newly diagnosed and enrolled in the HIV clinic. Additionally, 85% of our inpatients, the sickest among our patient population, are HIV positive. One third of our inpatients would have been hospitalized in an intensive care unit in the US.

Therefore, specialized HIV care, medication compliance and support are of the utmost importance to our patient population. To this end, Ti Kay has developed a comprehensive support program that aims to address the unique needs of our TB patients, and those that are coninfected with HIV. This multifaceted support program helps ensure that patients receive holistic health care. This adherence program, employing Haitian staff, some of whom are former patients, includes counseling and follow-up care, medication to treat opportunistic infections, and free transportation to and from appointments.

There is a notable difference between Ti Kay and other internationally established and funded health programs. The clinic employs up to 30 Haitians, many of whom are former patients. International personnel are not paid for their work, and demonstrate a commitment to this project by their decision to live and work locally in Haiti, often under austere conditions. International volunteers provide their own funding, live simply - often in tents - and take public transport.

We are able to establish a level of trust with our patients, as these living conditions enable us to learn Creole and participate more intimately in the Haitian community. This commitment ensures that the maximum amount of resources are directed to the people who need them immediately and that funds are not misdirected or diluted.

Mission: Ti Kay, Inc. is a U.S. based medical non-profit organization operating in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, that works to support the Haitian public health system to treat, and hence, prevent the spread of tuberculosis (TB). Based at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Ti Kay supplements the work of this state hospital by providing a volunteer on-site medical doctor and additional nursing care, as well as ensuring that all care is free to both inpatients and outpatients. One of the goals of Ti Kay is to build and strengthen systems in a sustainable way by working within the Haitian public health care system, thereby strengthening Haitis public health system overall.
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