When Dr. Jeff Kempf, retired director of the global health program and emergency medicine physician, counts his blessings, he often thinks about Haiti and its people. It was because of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, that Dr. Kempf was able to develop a transformative program to bring health care and support services […]
Doctors, friends gather to raise funds for St. Damien Pediatric Hospital
On the eve of Halloween, ghosts and goblins were the furthest from Drs. Jeff and Ellen Kempf’s minds. Instead, they were focused on the children of Haiti. The husband-and-wife duo opened their home to host a gathering in honor of Dr. Jacqueline Gautier, CEO of St. Damien Pediatric Hospital and president of the Haitian Pediatric […]
Transplanting a pediatric cardiology program to Haiti takes team effort
For the past 2 years, children have been leaving Haiti – 2 at a time a few times a year – to come to Akron Children’s to have their heart defects repaired. But for each of these life-saving procedures we have performed, there are hundreds of children back in Haiti waiting for their turn. In many cases, time runs out.
Haitian toddler had angels in Akron this holiday season
We often hear words like “joy,” “blessing” and “good will” during the holidays. They are in our greeting cards and the songs of the season, but sometimes they become more than just words.
Helping Haiti: ‘We’ve done really some good work’
Since making his first trip to Haiti in 2010, following that country’s devastating earthquake, Dr. Jeff Kempf has been humbled by the progress made by his Akron Children’s Hospital team and a larger coalition that now includes five other U.S. children’s hospitals.
Lean for Haiti
Russell Maroni shares his experience as a healthcare missionary One year ago, Haiti was struck by a catastrophic, 7.0-magnitude earthquake. In the days that followed, reports of the devastation flooded in. More than 1,700 miles away, Russell Maroni was working as an X-ray technologist at Akron Children’s Hospital. Married with a baby on the way […]