Dr. Louis Maxime Edouard is practically blind as a result of a large benign tumor on his pituitary gland.   He wanted to have the mass removed but there were no medical specialists that could help him in his native Haiti, a country that is still recovering from a devastating earthquake.

 Edouard, 34, knew that American physicians travelled to a clinic near Les Cayes, Haiti to treat the local community. It was there that he was evaluated by Dr. Will Caldwell, an otolaryngologist and Novant Health’s senior vice president of clinical integration.   

Caldwell and Dr. Will Flannery are among a group of doctors from Novant Health who volunteer at least four weeks a year at the Haitian clinic under the auspices of the humanitarian organization Give Hope Global. The two providers worked with Novant Health administrators at Presbyterian Medical Center and other physicians to make Edouard’s surgery a reality.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Jennifer Orning and otolaryngologist Dr. Hunter Hoover volunteered to perform the surgery.

Caldwell said that Novant Health’s rallying around this patient is emblematic of team members’ commitment to clinical integration which is to provide high quality care at an affordable cost that is accessible to all even if they don’t live in the Novant Health footprint.

At the moment, it is uncertain whether Edouard will be able to return to medicine or to regain his sight, but he is grateful.