According to the Ombuds Office site: "The Ombudsperson strives to see that people are treated fairly and equitably at Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and Harvard School of Public Health. The Office is independent of any existing administrative or academic structures and is responsible only to the dean of each school."

Students, fellows, faculty members, and employees affiliated with HSPH, HMS, and HSDM are eligible for this service.

Examples of the types of situations handled by the Ombuds Office include if you:
    • believe you may have been a victim of discrimination, harassment, or unfair treatment based on your race, color, religion, creed, ethnic or national origin, gender, ability, sexual orientation, or veteran's status
    • have a problem you do not want others to know about because you fear retaliation or negative evaluation
    • are facing an ethical dilemma
    • are experiencing a personality conflict
    • question school policies or procedures
    • feel you have nowhere to turn

Brodrick has served as executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Mediation Programs and Practitioners, director of The Children's Hearings Project and mediator of educational appeals for the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Former ombudsperson Linda Wilcox, who had served in the role since 1991, is retiring.

Faculty and staff may be eligible to use Harvard’s Emergency/Back-Up Care benefits. Employees may use these services when they need to be at work and their regular child care is unavailable. Example situations include when a regular caregiver or stay-at-home spouse is ill or temporarily unavailable or when a child’s regular day care center is closed. More information about the programs, "Just in Time" and "Parents in a Pinch," is available.

Harvard Opens Free Skating Rink

Harvard University has opened the Harvard Allston Skating Rink at 168 Western Avenue in Allston. The temporary rink is free of charge and open to the public on Fridays and weekends through March 28, 2010. The rink is located indoors with a seating area and bathroom. Limited pairs of skates will be available on a first-come, first-served basis free of charge.

Hours:

• Fridays, 3:00pm to 8:00pm
• Saturdays, 10:00am to 8:00pm
• Sundays, 10:00am to 6:00pm

A church near the Cange hospital in Haiti has been converted into a ward. The Cange hospital is part of a Partners In Health-affiliated complex. Click the photo to watch a slide show. Photo by David Walton. Courtesy of Partners In Health.

In a short period of time, a 7.0 earthquake devastated parts of Haiti on January 12, leaving tens of thousands dead and others struggling to survive. HSPH alumna Louise Ivers, MPH’05, was in Port-au-Prince when the quake struck. A doctor, Ivers wrote in an email quoted in the New Yorker: “We did our best for the 300 wounded people who came to the driveway looking for some help. We pulled license plates from vehicles to make splints; found first aid kits in nearby cars; and tried to tourniquet wounded arms and legs, and to stabilize the fractures with torn up T-shirts, and in some small way relieve the suffering.

Ivers is clinical director of the Harvard-affiliated Partners In Health (PIH) in Haiti. She was one of a number of HSPH community members who quickly joined relief efforts. Working with PIH and the University-wide Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI), faculty members and alumni are providing disaster relief expertise and critical medical care.

Paul Farmer, a professor in the HSPH Department of Global Health and Population, is co-founder of PIH, which operates multiple medical sites in Haiti and has had a presence there since 1985. On January 22 on the PIH blog, the Haiti Program Coordinator wrote: “To date, PIH has sent 22 plane loads with 144 medical volunteers -- orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgical nurses and other medical professionals -- and several thousand pounds of medical supplies to support the more than 4,500 PIH health care providers already in Haiti.”

Hilarie Cranmer, MPH’04, and Stephanie Rosborough, MPH’06, are taking the lead in setting up a postoperative medical camp to serve displaced Haitians just over the border in the Dominican Republic. Cranmer is an assistant professor in the HSPH Department of Global Health and Population and a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). Rosborough is an instructor in medicine at HMS and an emergency physician and disaster relief expert at BWH. Both are affiliated with HHI, which is coordinating teams of medical, surgical, and public health personnel to rotate in and staff the field hospital.

Haiti has “significant critical care and long-term development and reconstruction needs,” said Vincenzo Bollettino, HHI’s director of programs and administration. “I think our staff is encouraged in the sense that they’re having an impact, but the horizon is pretty broad. This disaster is going to require relief and recovery efforts for a long time,” he said.

Representatives from HHI are working with the United Nations Health Cluster in Haiti — an effort to coordinate the activities of government, non-governmental, academic, and private organizations during medical emergencies. The Initiative also is providing technical support to organizations using high resolution aerial imaging and mapping technology to identify road disruption, access points, population clusters, and settlements.

Michael VanRooyen, HHI co-director and associate professor in HSPH’s Department of Global Health and Population, has been compiling regular situation reports, including current activities of the Harvard-affiliated hospitals, HSPH, and other Harvard institutions, in addition to updates on the status of relief operations in Port-au-Prince and surrounding affected areas. See http://www.hhi.harvard.edu/ and http://twitter.com/HHI for more information.

Other alumni involved in Haitian relief efforts include: Miriam Aschkenasy, MPH '03, HHI fellow, physician, and public health specialist at Oxfam America; Joia Mukherjee, MPH '01, chief medical officer for PIH; and David Walton, MPH’07, an internist at BWH and instructor in medicine at HMS who is associated with PIH.

Read more about Harvard’s response to the crisis:

Medical Workers Gain Momentum

Harvard Gazette, January 19

Harvard Mobilizes Relief Fund

Harvard Gazette, January 15

Harvard Responds to Haiti Crisis

Harvard Gazette, January 13

-- Amy Roeder. Photo by David Walton. Courtesy of Partners In Health.

In an email to the School on January 20, 2010, Dean Julio Frenk wrote: "The Division of Policy Translation and Leadership Development will oversee the activities that are currently underway in the Center for Health Communication, the Center for Continuing Professional Education, and the current Division of Public Health Practice, which will be renamed Center for Public Health Practice. In her new role as Assistant Dean for Research Communications, Robin Herman will also join the new Division. Through this new organization I expect to achieve greater efficiency of current efforts, while creating positive synergies that will pave the way for new knowledge translation initiatives."

Blendon will oversee the creation of a Harvard Health Forum, which will be modeled on the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Harvard Kennedy School. Dean Frenk explained that Blendon, "will work with faculty who see opportunities to translate their research into better public health programs and policies. He will bring together faculty and public officials to research the effectiveness of public health programs and to improve those programs with research results. He will oversee our efforts to develop more high-level training programs for ministers of health and other leaders who influence public health globally. And he will collaborate with our faculty and outside experts to develop a robust knowledge repository of best public health practices and case studies that can be accessed by public health officials and researchers worldwide."

Blendon will assume the new position July 1, 2010.

-- Photo by Suzanne Camarata