JAN A. KLINE, MA, BSN, COMMUNITY MEDICINE AND AMBULATORY SERVICES GERONTOLOGIST NURSE AT NUMC, RETURNS AFTER SIX WEEK PROJECT HOPE VOLUNTEER HUMANITARIAN AID MISSION ABOARD US NAVAL SHIP MERCY IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
August 21, 2008
Contact: Shelley Lotenberg
(516) 572-6055
shelley@numc.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
JAN A. KLINE, MA, BSN, COMMUNITY MEDICINE AND AMBULATORY SERVICES GERONTOLOGIST NURSE AT NUMC, RETURNS AFTER SIX WEEK PROJECT HOPE VOLUNTEER HUMANITARIAN AID MISSION ABOARD US NAVAL SHIP MERCY IN SOUTH EAST ASIA
FULFILLED LIFE LONG DREAM TO PARTICIPATE IN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AID WORK IN UNDERSERVED REGIONS OF THE WORLD
East Meadow, NY…..Jan A. Kline, MA, BSN, a resident of Port Washington a registered nurse and a gerontologist assigned to the Community Medicine and Ambulatory Services Department at the Nassau University Medical Center, recently completed a six week volunteer rotation in the Project Hope South East Asia mission aboard the United States Naval Ship Mercy as part of the Pacific Parternship’08. During her six week volunteer assignment, Ms.Kline taught classes in Nha Trang, Vietnam, on arthritis, pain management and diabetes to nurses and nursing students, as well as participated in several medical clinics.
Founded in 1958, Project Hope is a humanitarian aid organization that sends healthcare professionals to areas of the world that need medical assistance. After the Asian Tsunami in 2005, Project HOPE teamed up with the Navy to facilitate much needed healthcare in that region of the world.
“For me, this was a dream come true to work with an organization of the caliber of Project HOPE, as well as living on and working from the USNS Mercy,” said the mother of two daughters, Charlotte and Hannah McCorkel. “I was honored to be a part of this community, given the skill sets, the collaboration and dedication of those with whom I worked.”
She started her first mission on June 14th, meeting the ship in Manila, where she embarked on her six week adventure, visiting Vietnam, Singapore, Timor Leste and departed back for the US from Darwin, Australia, on July 28th. While in Dili, Timor Leste, she learned that babies were dying from the cold in a mountain community, just because they did not have blankets to keep them warm. Ms. Kline organized Navy personnel and other volunteers to make infant receiving blankets out of donated towels and called the endeavor “Operation Mercy Wraps”.
She kept a blog, which included photographs of the various countries during the entire time in Southeast Asia that she sent to NUMC colleagues, family and friends. Ms. Kline concluded by saying: “I am looking forward to returning to a part of the world that has touched my heart and that is in dire need of health care professionals so that its future is viable.”
