Then and Now--Haitian Hearts and its Existential Battle--February 28, 2025 john a carroll Feb 28, 2025 Photo by John Carroll Twenty-five years ago, Haitian Hearts was in an existential battle. OSF-Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria was making it very hard for me to safely care for Haitian kids with heart problems within the hospital and the Peoria community. OSF administrators were intimidating doctors caring for Haitian kids. I even had to report one of them to the OSF-Children’s Hospital of Illinois Pediatric Resource Center for child negligence. The host families of Haitian kids were terrified to stand up against the number two employer in Peoria. And believe it or not, the Catholic Diocese of Peoria was afraid, too. OSF was and is a big contributor to the Diocese and the Diocese did not want to lose OSF's financial support. OSF even negotiated a deal with the Diocese to allow OSF physicians to prescribe oral contraceptives from their OSF offices so OSF could remain viable in the medical marketplace. When I publicly exposed OSF for their negligent care of Haitian kids as well as other medical ethical lapses, the Diocese supported OSF and turned their back on Haitian kids with heart problems. At our last “meeting” with the Diocese, the monsignor told me to put my “advertisement” away as I held up a picture of a Haitian child who still needed heart surgery. And now, 25 years later, what has changed? Haitian Hearts continues to work hard, and we have helped about 400 people with our foundation. Also, we have examined thousands of people in clinics all over Haiti and paid for lab work, imaging, hospitalizations, and surgeries for hundreds of patients with diverse medical problems. Haiti is now a failed state and is controlled by gangs with guns from the United States and other places. There is no functional Haitian government and there is no peace for 12 million Haitians. As I type this post, over one million people live on the streets (displaced by gangs) and one in two people are hungry. The current US Administration is doing all it can to cast false aspersions at Haitians and hopes to deport 500,000 Haitians as soon as possible. Also, the US government, by gutting USAID this past month, has pulled up the lifeline that was reaching thousands of Haitians daily that were struggling to survive. In 2025, the United States is very divided. When I post something on Facebook now that supports Catholic Social Teaching or quotes from a “progressive” news source, some Facebook friends have quit supporting Haitian Hearts. They cannot push me aside enough to realize that saving a life is what they need to do. This reminds me of the Diocese and their unfortunate decision many years ago. "We will not help you save the lives of Haitian children unless you tone it down and do exactly what we say." Like I told the Diocese a generation ago, I cannot do that. And I cannot be passive now as insanity envelops our country and world, and Haitians (and Ukrainians and many others) are still thought of as disposable people. John A. Carroll, MD www.haitianhearts.org

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