Henri Ford
Encyclopedia
Henri Ronald Ford is a Haitian-American pediatric surgeon. He is currently chief of surgery at Children's Hospital Los Angeles
and Vice Dean
for Medical Education
at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake
, Ford returned to Haiti to provide medical assistance to earthquake victims.
and spent his early years in Port-au-Prince
. His father was a preacher who spoke out against inequality in Haitian society. When Henri Ford was 13 years old, he fled with his family from the government of Papa Doc Duvalier, settling among the Haitian community in Brooklyn
, New York. There Ford attended John Jay High School, although at first he spoke no English.
Ford graduated from Princeton University
in 1980 with an A.B. in public and international affairs. He received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School
in 1984. He completed his surgical internship and residency
at Weill Cornell Medical College. He also completed a research fellowship in immunology
at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
's Department of Surgery.
In 2009, Ford received a Master of Health Administration
degree from the School of Policy, Planning, and Development
at the University of Southern California
. Since July 2010 he has been a Trustee of Princeton University.
. He was surgeon-in-chief at CHP and chief of the division of pediatric surgery at the medical school. In 2005 he became vice president and chief of surgery at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and joined the faculty of the Keck School. Ford later said he moved to East Los Angeles
to serve a population in greater need than the Pittsburgh population and that he turned down a large salary increase Pitt offered to retain him. He was appointed Vice Dean for Medical Education at the Keck School in 2008.
Ford has done groundbreaking research on the pathogenesis
of necrotizing enterocolitis
. According to CHLA, he has written over 300 research publications. He served as President of the Association for Academic Surgery from 2002 to 2003 and is the immediate past President of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, having served in that post 2010–11. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Surgeons.
After his sister called the conditions in Haiti following the earthquake of 12 January 2010
, "apocalyptic", Ford contacted a friend at the U.S. State Department to offer help. By 16 January he was in Haiti with the U.S. government's emergency rescue team. His brothers Billy Ford and Jean Ford, also doctors, soon joined him in Haiti to treat earthquake victims.
At first Ford operated on patients in a closet at the U.S. Embassy, but when one boy's injuries proved too serious to treat there he and the boy flew by helicopter to the USS Carl Vinson. After operating on the boy, Ford remained aboard the Carl Vinson treating other pediatric patients. In one case, he removed a piece of concrete from a girl's skull with the help of two U.S. Navy doctors and neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta
, a CNN
medical correspondent.
After returning to land, Ford helped the Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (GHESKIO) set up a field hospital
at the soccer field on the campus of Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince. He treated patients at the field hospital and spread word about it in the streets of Port-au-Prince, recruiting patients and health care workers from the population. Referring to his work for the GHESKIO hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College called Ford "invaluable", saying he "served both as a skilled surgeon and as a bridge between the United States and Haitian medical teams." WebMD
named Ford and three others, including Gupta, "Haiti Health Heroes".
Ford spent two weeks in Haiti during his initial visit following the earthquake. He returned eight times within a year of the quake to continue his medical work.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Hospital Los Angeles, formerly Childrens Hospital Society, is a private, non-profit teaching hospital in Los Angeles. The hospital provides multidisciplinary care to over 93,000 children each year, with physician expertise in over 100 pediatric specialties and subspecialties.The hospital...
and Vice Dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
for Medical Education
Medical education
Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, either the initial training to become a doctor or additional training thereafter ....
at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
, Ford returned to Haiti to provide medical assistance to earthquake victims.
Background
Ford was born in HaitiHaiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
and spent his early years in Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
. His father was a preacher who spoke out against inequality in Haitian society. When Henri Ford was 13 years old, he fled with his family from the government of Papa Doc Duvalier, settling among the Haitian community in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York. There Ford attended John Jay High School, although at first he spoke no English.
Ford graduated from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1980 with an A.B. in public and international affairs. He received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
in 1984. He completed his surgical internship and residency
Residency (medicine)
Residency is a stage of graduate medical training. A resident physician or resident is a person who has received a medical degree , Podiatric degree , Dental Degree and who practices...
at Weill Cornell Medical College. He also completed a research fellowship in immunology
Immunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is a medical school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The School of Medicine is also known as Pitt Med, and is ranked as a “top medical school” by U.S. News & World Report in the publication's categories of research and primary care...
's Department of Surgery.
In 2009, Ford received a Master of Health Administration
Master of Health Administration
The Master of Health Administration is a master's-level professional degree granted to students who complete a course of study in the knowledge and competencies needed for careers in health administration, involving the management of hospitals and other health services organizations, as well as...
degree from the School of Policy, Planning, and Development
School of Policy, Planning, and Development
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy , previously known as School of Policy, Planning, and Development , at the University of Southern California is a leading urban planning, public policy and public administration school in the United States...
at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. Since July 2010 he has been a Trustee of Princeton University.
Career
From 1993 to 2005, Ford was an attending surgeon at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP) and on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh School of MedicineUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is a medical school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The School of Medicine is also known as Pitt Med, and is ranked as a “top medical school” by U.S. News & World Report in the publication's categories of research and primary care...
. He was surgeon-in-chief at CHP and chief of the division of pediatric surgery at the medical school. In 2005 he became vice president and chief of surgery at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and joined the faculty of the Keck School. Ford later said he moved to East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles (region)
East Los Angeles is the portion of the City of Los Angeles that lies east of Downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River and the unincorporated areas of Lincoln Heights, west of the San Gabriel Valley, East Los Angeles and City Terrace, south of Cypress Park, and north of Vernon, California and...
to serve a population in greater need than the Pittsburgh population and that he turned down a large salary increase Pitt offered to retain him. He was appointed Vice Dean for Medical Education at the Keck School in 2008.
Ford has done groundbreaking research on the pathogenesis
Pathogenesis
The pathogenesis of a disease is the mechanism by which the disease is caused. The term can also be used to describe the origin and development of the disease and whether it is acute, chronic or recurrent...
of necrotizing enterocolitis
Necrotizing enterocolitis
Necrotizing enterocolitis is a medical condition primarily seen in premature infants, where portions of the bowel undergo necrosis .-Signs and symptoms:...
. According to CHLA, he has written over 300 research publications. He served as President of the Association for Academic Surgery from 2002 to 2003 and is the immediate past President of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons, having served in that post 2010–11. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Surgeons.
Work in Haiti
In 1997 Ford made his first visit to Haiti following his family's escape. He later described being horrified by the abject poverty and the poor conditions at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti. He returned several times in the 1990s as a visiting doctor.After his sister called the conditions in Haiti following the earthquake of 12 January 2010
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
, "apocalyptic", Ford contacted a friend at the U.S. State Department to offer help. By 16 January he was in Haiti with the U.S. government's emergency rescue team. His brothers Billy Ford and Jean Ford, also doctors, soon joined him in Haiti to treat earthquake victims.
At first Ford operated on patients in a closet at the U.S. Embassy, but when one boy's injuries proved too serious to treat there he and the boy flew by helicopter to the USS Carl Vinson. After operating on the boy, Ford remained aboard the Carl Vinson treating other pediatric patients. In one case, he removed a piece of concrete from a girl's skull with the help of two U.S. Navy doctors and neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Sanjay Gupta
Sanjay Gupta is an American neurosurgeon and an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine and associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia....
, a CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
medical correspondent.
After returning to land, Ford helped the Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (GHESKIO) set up a field hospital
Field hospital
A field hospital is a large mobile medical unit that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities...
at the soccer field on the campus of Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince. He treated patients at the field hospital and spread word about it in the streets of Port-au-Prince, recruiting patients and health care workers from the population. Referring to his work for the GHESKIO hospital, Weill Cornell Medical College called Ford "invaluable", saying he "served both as a skilled surgeon and as a bridge between the United States and Haitian medical teams." WebMD
WebMD
WebMD is an American corporation which provides health information services. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Clark and Pavan Nigam as Healthscape, later Healtheon, and then acquired WebMD in 1999 to form Healtheon/WebMD...
named Ford and three others, including Gupta, "Haiti Health Heroes".
Ford spent two weeks in Haiti during his initial visit following the earthquake. He returned eight times within a year of the quake to continue his medical work.