 There was never a question of whether Sylvia Campbell would go to Haiti to help victims of last week's devastating earthquake.
It was only a matter of when.
Campbell, a prominent Tampa surgeon, arrived in Port au Prince Sunday with a quickly assembled group of health professionals.
Knowing that Haiti desperately needs doctors and nurses, Campbell scrambled last week to make arrangements to get there as quickly as possible. The group of eight will be providing health care at a clinic in St. Marc, about an hour from Port au Prince.
It's a concept with which she's very familiar: She's president of the Judeo Christian Health Clinic, where the working poor receive free medical care from physicians, nurses and other volunteers.
For the Haiti trip, Campbell worked with St. Joseph's and All Children's hospitals to get donations of much-needed medical supplies. She and her fellow travelers took the boxes to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, then boarded a plane provided by FEMA on Sunday morning, bound for Haiti's capital city.
"Conditions in Haiti are horrible on a good day," Campbell said before leaving. "I can only imagine the situation there now."
Haiti has a special place in her heart. She's a founder of Village Partners International, which matches churches with missions in Haiti and Africa that focus on health, education, housing and commerce. She's made about two dozen trips to Haiti since 1996, donating her services at Covenant Hospital in Mombin Crochu.
Campbell, a mother of three college students, said she's aware of the risks being in Haiti now, with everything in such chaos. But her biggest fear isn't about her safety.
"I'm fearful there will be people I can't save," she said. "We have such limited resources and just a short window of time to treat trauma patients."
She's also concerned that Haiti's needs will fade from public attention as the weeks go on.
"This isn't a short fix. People need to understand that this country needs to be in a place where it moves forward, not stays stagnant," she said. "There are so many obstacles in the way, yet I still have hope we can make this happen."
Campbell will provide TBO.com with an online journal of her daily experiences and photographs whenever she has cell phone or Internet access
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