Praying for Life: Haiti's Health Care Crisis Examined in This Week's New Times

The squad car tears through the dark streets of Port-au-Prince. It screeches around tight corners well after midnight. Then it slams to a gravely stop in front of the tall iron gates of Bernard Mevs Hospital.As a cop leans on the horn, Amazan Jean-Uber lies motionless on the back seat:...

By Michael E. Miller

July 5, 2011

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The squad car tears through the dark streets of Port-au-Prince. It screeches around tight corners well after midnight. Then it slams to a gravely stop in front of the tall iron gates of Bernard Mevs Hospital.

As a cop leans on the horn, Amazan Jean-Uber lies motionless on the back seat: a bullet buried deep in his back after the truck he was driving was ambushed by machine-gun-toting bandits.

Now Bernard Mevs is his only chance.

Last year's devastating earthquake killed as many as 300,000 Haitians and cost another 4,000 a limb. But the quake also damaged 60 percent of the country's already dismal hospitals and clinics, leaving patients like Jean-Uber praying for medical attention.

This week, New Times takes a look at Haiti's continuing health care crisis. Check out our homepage this afternoon or pick-up a copy around town for the story.

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Michael E. Miller was a staff writer at Miami New Times for five years. His work for New Times won many national awards, including back-to-back-to-back Sigma Delta Chi medallions. He now covers local enterprise for the Washington Post.

Contact: Michael E. Miller