University of Michigan Health System to send medical personnel to Haiti

By Juliana Keeping AnnArbor.com Health & Environment Reporter

Posted on Thu, Jan 14, 2010 : 6 p.m.

Ora Hirsch Pescovitz

The University of Michigan plans to send medical personnel to Haiti following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake Tuesday.

Today, the Red Cross estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed and 3 million affected or injured across the country.

The University of Michigan Health System will provide medical and support personnel on the scene, coordinate distribution of medicine and medical supplies and offer its clinical facilities for use, Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, the executive vice president for medical affairs and CEO of the U-M Health System, announced in an e-mail to UMHS staff today.

"Thank you in advance for supporting this effort," Pescovitz wrote in the e-mail. "Despite the challenges we currently face in our state and country, we can never forget that we belong to a global community. We will do our part for the earthquake victims in Haiti."

After outlining a basic response from UMHS, Pescovitz wrote that a formal plan from a UMHS task force is expected later in the day.

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