Touching Stories

A recent trip to Haiti left a trio of Penn State Health St. Joseph physicians humbled to have been able to help many patients, but also frustrated by what they were unable to accomplish.

Dr. Jeffrey Zlotnick, a Family Practice Specialist, traveled with Dr. Riley Manion and Dr. Elizabeth Herrman, both residents in St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency Program, to the impoverished nation late last year on a week-long medical mission trip in partnership with St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church.

They treated hundreds of patients, some of whom traveled for day to visit the free clinic. The doctors shared some of their insights about the island nation and the people they met there.

Devastation Remains

Hit by a massive earthquake in 2010 and again by the devastating Hurricane Matthew in 2016, the island has yet to recover.

“The place looked like a bomb hit it,” Dr. Zlotnick observed. Dr. Manion and Dr. Herrman also were surprised by the extent of the remaining damage, although Dr. Manion noted that work is underway to restore conditions.

“It’s shocking that the island is still so damaged, but there is construction being done, which is promising,” she said.

Scope of Medical Need Among Residents

Dr. Zlotnick estimated that the medical team treated about 850 patients over the course of the visit. He cited diabetes, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and untreated hypertension as the most common complaints. Other common conditions included skin infections, allergies, asthma, malnutrition, and worm infestations, and doctors also treated patients affected by stroke polio, spinal bifida and other conditions.

“I had never done anything like this before, and it was difficult because you wanted to be able to do more,” Dr. Zlotnick said. “To see people at the level of need these people were is just like, wow.” Dr. Manion said that, while they were able to help a lot of people and provide quality patient care, it was frustrating to see patients they could not help.

It is those types of cases, she said, that she cannot forget. “In particular, I saw a two-year-old boy with a spinal cord defect that could have been fixed at birth if he had been seen, but instead, I saw a two-year-old who will never be able to walk,” she said. “Cases like that, where our hands were tied or it was too late to intervene, are what will stay with me the most.”

The Haitian People

All three doctors were impressed with the kindness and sincerity of the patients they treated during the trip. Nearly everyone they treated thanked them profusely, even though, by U.S. medical standards, the doctors had little to offer to patients.

Some people who visited the clinic walked for days to get there, and many people dressed in their best clothing for their visit with American doctors. Dr. Herrman said she especially enjoyed treating the children who visited and learning about the culture of Haiti. “We have so much available to us here in the U.S., and to see how appreciative the population was with the little we had to offer was humbling,” she said. “But, mostly, I really enjoyed just talking to patients and learning about their experiences.”

Dr. Manion agreed that the kindness of the people they treated was exceptional. “The people of Haiti were so appreciative and welcoming,” she said. “They were constantly thanking us for coming, and praying for us to have a safe trip back home.”

A Sad Takeaway

All the doctors expressed mixed emotions about the trip and what they were able to accomplish or not accomplish due to limited resources. Dr. Herrman recalled a sad visit on their last day of the trip that has stayed with her since her return from Haiti. “We visited a Mother Teresa orphanage on our last day, and while we were unable to treat any patients, we were able to interact with some of the babies and children,” she explained. “There was one child who clung so tightly onto me. It was clear he was seeking human contact, love and affection. When I put him down, he instantly began to cry. It was the hardest thing I had to do all week.”

When Susan Sullivan began her position as Penn State Health St. Joseph’s Vice President of Mission and Ministry in January, she noticed something that she thought seemed odd.

“I had noticed that there were very few items in the hospital that pertain to St. Joseph,” she said. “There just was not much at all that represented him.”

When Sullivan mentioned this to her longtime friend, Julie Magri, a retired physician who lives in Decatur, Georgia, a light bulb came on in Magri’s head.

It just so happened that Magri’s father, Leo R. Magri, who died in 2014, was a devoted follower of St. Joseph and had collected many statues and other items representing him.

In fact, when Magri’s parents relocated from their home in Holyoke, Massachusetts to live with her in Georgia, Magri set aside a room in her home where her father could store his religious papers, books and other items, many of which depicted St. Joseph.

Sullivan was delighted when Magri offered to share some of her father’s collection, and Magri shared her delight.

“I’m thrilled to find such a fitting home for these things that were so important to my father,” Magri said. “I think it’s providence, actually.

The items, including a framed print and several statues, the largest of which is displayed in the hospital’s chapel, were given to the hospital in honor of Leo Magri, who Julie Magri characterized as “a man of great faith, and a great man.”

Leo, a second generation grocer in Holyoke, so admired St. Joseph that for 33 years he arranged and led pilgrimages to St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, Canada, sometimes filling several buses with people who wanted to participate.

He also had a statue built in the likeness of St. Joseph, replicating one displayed at the Oratory. The statue was placed on a 25-foot-high pole and erected on a narrow strip of land that Leo owned, towering over traffic moving along a major highway and overlooking the town of Holyoke.

When asked the reason for her father’s great devotion to St. Joseph, Magri said that, while she was very close to her father and knew a lot about his life, she wasn’t exactly sure what precipitated Leo’s love for the saint.

“I didn’t question it, just like I don’t question the air that I breathe,” Magri said. “My father’s love for St. Joseph predated the time when he became a father, and it was just something that his children grew up with. It was a natural as the air that we breathe.”

With Penn State Health St. Joseph now in possession of some of Leo Magri’s collection, Sullivan is hopeful that hospital employees and patients will become more aware of the saint, who is known as the foster father of Jesus and the husband of Mary.

While not much about Joseph is found in the Bible, he is regarded as the patron saint of workers, and was declared by Pope Pius IX to be the patron and protector of the Catholic Church. He also is patron of the sick and patron of a happy death, presumably because he was in the presence of Mary and Jesus at the time of his own death.

A stained glass window depicting the death of St. Joseph is among Penn State Health St. Joseph’s collection of framed windows from its original chapel, located throughout the hospital. The one depicting the death of St. Joseph can be found on the Garden level, near the cafeteria.

St. Joseph is an important figure in the hospital’s Catholic identity, Sullivan said, and important in reminding staff members that their work is blessed.

“We’re about continuing the healing ministry of Jesus,” Sullivan said. “We know that everything that happens here requires teamwork. So, we have the teamwork of the people in the hospital, but also that of a heavenly presence.”

Penn State Health St. Joseph’s values of reverence, integrity, compassion and excellence must extend to every aspect of hospital life.
“The idea of the coming and going of life is a daily reality here,” Sullivan said. “And, we must always keep in mind the idea of accompanying people where they are, and of being present in a very compassionate, healing way.”

Magri hopes that the St. Joseph items she donated to the hospital will provide spiritual strength to patients and staff.

“I just hope that they bring some spiritual nourishment to those who see them,” Magri said. “That would be important to my father.”

A recent trip to Haiti left a trio of Penn State Health St. Joseph physicians humbled to have been able to help many patients, but also frustrated by what they were unable to accomplish.

Dr. Jeffrey Zlotnick, a Family Practice Specialist, traveled with Dr. Riley Manion and Dr. Elizabeth Herrman, both residents in St. Joseph’s Family Medicine Residency Program, to the impoverished nation late last year on a week-long medical mission trip in partnership with St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church.

They treated hundreds of patients, some of whom traveled for days to visit the free clinic. The doctors shared some of their insights about the island nation and the people they met there.

Devastation Remains

Hit by a massive earthquake in 2010 and again by the devastating Hurricane Matthew in 2016, the island has yet to recover.

“The place looked like a bomb hit it,” Dr. Zlotnick observed.

Dr. Manion and Dr. Herrman also were surprised by the extent of the remaining damage, although Dr. Manion noted that work is underway to restore conditions.

“It’s shocking that the island is still so damaged, but there is construction being done, which is promising,” she said.

Scope of Medical Need among Residents

Dr. Zlotnick estimated that the medical team treated about 850 patients over the course of the visit. He cited diabetes, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and untreated hypertension as the most common complaints. Other common conditions included skin infections, allergies, asthma, malnutrition and worm infestations, and doctors also treated patients affected by stroke, polio, spinal bifida and other conditions.

“I had never done anything like this before, and it was difficult because you wanted to be able to do more,” Dr. Zlotnick said. “To see people at the level of need these people were is just like, wow.”

Dr. Manion said that, while they were able to help a lot of people and provide quality patient care, it was frustrating to see patients who they could not help.

It is those types of cases, she said, that she cannot forget.

“In particular, I saw a two-year-old boy with a spinal cord defect that could have been fixed at birth if he had been seen, but instead, I saw a two-year-old who will never be able to walk,” she said. “Cases like that, where our hands were tied or it was too late to intervene, are what will stay with me the most.”

The Haitian People

All three doctors were impressed with the kindness and sincerity of the patients they treated during the trip. Nearly everyone they treated thanked them profusely, even though, by U.S. medical standards, the doctors had little to offer to patients.

Some people who visited the clinic walked for days to get there, and many people dressed in their best clothing for their visit with American doctors. Dr. Herrman said she especially enjoyed treating the children who visited and learning about the culture of Haiti.

“We have so much available to us here in the U.S., and to see how appreciative the population was with the little we had to offer was humbling,” she said. “But, mostly, I really enjoyed just talking to patients and learning about their experiences.”

Dr. Manion agreed that the kindness of the people they treated was exceptional.

“The people of Haiti were so appreciative and welcoming,” she said. “They were constantly thanking us for coming, and praying for us to have a safe trip back home.”

A Sad Takeaway

All the doctors expressed mixed emotions about the trip and what they were able to accomplish or not accomplish due to limited resources. Dr. Herrman recalled a sad visit on their last day of the trip that has stayed with her since her return from Haiti.

“We visited a Mother Teresa orphanage on our last day, and while we were unable to treat any patients, we were able to interact with some of the babies and children,” she explained. “There was one child who clung so tightly on to me. It was clear he was seeking human contact, love and affection. When I put him down, he instantly began to cry. It was the hardest thing I had to do all week.”

About 25 family members and friends gathered recently at the Blandon home of Janet and Kraig Leiby to sew stuffed animals and bibs for pediatric patients at Penn State Health St. Joseph.

Kraig is employed as a physical therapist at St. Joe’s.

With sewers coming from as far as northern New Jersey, they spent Friday evening and most of the day Saturday cutting, stuffing, stitching and ironing – all for a good cause.

“It’s just a nice way for us to give back,” Janet explained. “I learned to sew at a very early age and many members of my family enjoy sewing, so it’s a good opportunity for us to get together and do something that benefits others.”

The weekend holiday sewing event, which has been held for about eight years, is not all business, of course. There was plenty of food and conversation to go around, along with a lot of joking and laughing.

To many of those gathered, the event is a hallmark of the Christmas season.

“This is my second year of helping, and I was really looking forward to it,” said Marian Simmons, who lives next door to the Leibys. “Doing something that helps someone else is a good way to celebrate Christmas.”

Steven Bush, 11, who on Saturday was the youngest member of the sewing group – not to mention the only male – was busy stitching squares for blankets on a sewing machine in the back of his Aunt Janet’s basement.

Steven had arrived at Janet’s house the previous night with his sister, Kristen; his mother, Linda; and his grandmother, Leona Baum, all of whom reside in northern New Jersey.

“I like coming here,” he said while operating the sewing machine. “It’s always fun, and I like to be with other people who like to sew.”
Sewing, according to Steven, is not only fun, but an enviable skill.

“Sewing is actually something that you’d want to learn,” he advised. “I think you can get a pretty good job with it.”

His sister, Kristen, 15, was busy that afternoon with a non-sewing project. She was tying and braiding fabric to make small octopus toys for children.

“This is a project for people who don’t know how to sew, but I’ve actually been sewing since I was three or four,” Kristen said. “I come from a sewing family.”

Janet, who in addition to sewing has made many quilts, also started sewing as a young child. When she was in seventh grade she made a dress that she still has which included ruffles, pleats, covered buttons and other complicated features.

“Yeah, it probably wasn’t the best project to start on, but I learned a lot from making it,” she said.

An appreciation for the work that Penn State Health St. Joseph provides in the community motivates her to continue donating to the hospital, Janet explained. She said she enjoys working with Barb Moyer, volunteer coordinator, who helps her come up with a different project each year.

Last year Janet’s group made lap robes that could be given to patients in the emergency department. Another year, they made wipeable pillow covers for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“My family has always given when people needed things,” Janet said. “Being able to get together with friends and neighbors and family to create items that we know will be appreciated by others is as much a gift for us as for anyone else.”