Plane to carry 61 orphans from Haiti to Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A charity relief flight taking supplies to earthquake-ravaged Haiti is supposed to return to Pittsburgh with 61 children from an orphanage run by two western Pennsylvania women, a hospital spokesman familiar with the effort said.

Dan Laurent, a spokesman for the West Penn Allegheny Health System, confirmed that the plane filled with relief supplies from Brother’s Brother Foundation left Pittsburgh International Airport late Monday morning.

Laurent says the plane is supposed to bring back 61 orphans cared for by Jamie and Alison McMutrie, formerly of the Pittsburgh suburb of Ben Avon. Jamie McMutrie has been in Port-au-Prince since 2006, and Alison, her younger sister, moved there two years ago to help run an orphanage called BRESMA, said Chad McMutrie, their brother.

“We have three people on board,” Laurent said Monday, referring to two physicians and a physician’s assistant from the Pittsburgh-based hospital network. “My understanding is they took off around noon today.”

Laurent said the flight should take about five hours, and the plan is to bring back the orphans as soon as possible.

“From what I’ve heard, they’re looking at late night or early morning,” for returning to Pittsburgh International Airport. “I guess it would all depend on how quickly they can load these folks on the ground.”

Laurent said one of the physicians, Dr. Chip Lambert, is an emergency physician who regularly does medical missions for Brother’s Brother Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based charity relief agency.

Luke Hingson, president of Brother’s Brother, said he can’t say who organized the relief efforts because they wish to remain anonymous. He also knows nothing about any plans to bring back the orphans, because his charity was limited to gathering and sending surgical, hygiene and other supplies.

But he said Lambert is the charity’s medical director and definitely was aboard the flight to Haiti.

Media reports say the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center plans to care for the orphans through UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Laurent confirmed that, though he works for a rival health network.

Laurent said Allegheny General Hospital, West Penn’s flagship, is “prepared to admit some of these children if necessary” to its inpatient pediatrics unit.

Who organized the relief effort is unclear as various people said to be involved in it have either not commented or not confirmed their involvement.

KDKA-TV and WPXI-TV reported that U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa. was with the relief workers at the Pittsburgh airport, though none would comment.

Altmire spokeswoman Tess Mullen said only that, “Congressman Altmire is doing everything he can to bring Jamie and Ali home safely.”

Chad McMutrie told The Associated Press that he was working with other family members to help his sisters get the orphans out of Haiti. He said, “The kids living with them were in the process of being adopted.”