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Hurricane Response Is Personal for Medical Group Providing Care in Jamaica
Dr. Anne Marie Johnrose-Brown co-founded Medical Professionals on a Mission in 2017 after Hurricane Maria to support post-disaster care across the Caribbean. The group recently provided critical health services after Hurricane Melissa.
As a child in Dominica, Dr. Anne Marie Johnrose-Brown lived through the horror of Hurricane David, a Category 5 storm that killed over 2,000 people, ripped apart homes, and reshaped her view of the world.
The experience stayed with her throughout her path to becoming a physician, as did the knowledge of what a community needs after a storm. Those memories returned when she landed in Jamaica in late November, stepping into another island’s recovery after Hurricane Melissa.
Johnrose-Brown is a family physician in Florida and the co-founder of Medical Professionals on a Mission, a nonprofit that focuses on post-disaster health care in the Caribbean. She watched Hurricane Melissa approach for days. Early projections suggested the storm might strike Kingston, Jamaica’s largest city and capital. As the track shifted west, her team entered what she called “limbo” while waiting to see how the storm would develop and where it would hit.
Once landfall occurred, she and her team moved quickly, sourcing supplies, planning logistics – and asking for time off work. Each of MPOM’s volunteer healthcare providers has a full-time job, which also factors into the group’s responses.
“We need everything to fall in place for us to launch a medical mission,” Johnrose-Brown said.
MPOM aims to deploy within seven to 10 days after a hurricane. As Johnrose-Brown explained, after about 10 days, primary care needs rise sharply. Patients often cannot refill medications, chronic conditions can become uncontrolled, and wounds can become infected. Further hampering access to care, local clinics may be damaged. \
MPOM is also able to provide health care after that timeframe should local conditions require it, which is typically the case following major hurricanes and natural disasters.
Black River, Jamaica, was one of the most devastated areas from Hurricane Melissa. The area is pictured here in the days after the storm. (Photo by Manuel Velez for Direct Relief)
“The role of medical professionals in response to disasters extends well beyond the first one to two weeks,” she said.
Medical Professionals on a Mission formed after Hurricane Maria in 2017, when doctors from across the Caribbean organized a self-funded, volunteer mission to Dominica. Johnrose-Brown was motivated both by a desire to serve, which is what led her to become a doctor, and to give back to the Caribbean.
“I felt, being a doctor, I could provide a much-needed service, not just temporarily, but long term, and that I could provide this service, as a private doctor and as a volunteer. At any point in time, I’m able to change a life,” she said.
With this outlook, after Hurricane Maria, and then Dorian and Melissa, Johnrose-Brown was moved to action.
“I felt I had to do something and go; I have to get involved,” she said, recalling her thinking following the storms. “I’m big about giving back to the Caribbean because I’m from Dominica, went to medical school in Jamaica, and did my internship in Nassau.”
The Jamaica mission took place from Nov. 20 to Nov. 24, 2025, and the team included six medical professionals and two support staff. In the rural community of Lambs River, about two hours from Montego Bay, the storm severely damaged the local clinic.
The group erected tents on the grounds and treated patients there. Johnrose-Brown said she treated wounds and helped stabilize patients whose chronic conditions became worse post-storm, among other ailments.
Dr. Johnrose-Brown conducting a patient visit in Lambs River during MPOM’s medical mission to Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa. (Photo courtesy of MPOM)
A case that stuck with her was a man who had an untreated wound, which had become severely infected. Though unable to treat it in the field due to limited supplies and infrastructure, Johnrose-Brown was able to refer him to a hospital so he could receive comprehensive care.
In Savannah-la-Mar, the regional hospital remained operational despite damage to some areas. Her team delivered medical supplies and medications and visited the pediatric ward.
“I was happy and surprised to see the hospital was still functioning, including the pediatric ward,” she said.
Johnrose-Brown said the surrounding town was “bustling” as residents carried on daily routines, yet shuttered storefronts and limited employment highlighted concerns about rebuilding.
Across western Jamaica, the storm left a clear physical pattern. Homes built from wood were “completely damaged,” Johnrose-Brown said. Zinc roofs were widely torn off. Structures built from concrete and those with concrete roofs held up far better. She hopes future rebuilding efforts consider this difference.
Despite the challenges, she described a strong sense of hope. Local residents shared food, generators, Wi-Fi access, and charging stations. They supported one another and welcomed the mobile clinic. “Hope is the main message I get from being there,” she said.
Her team is now working with health officials in western Jamaica to assess continued needs and to build a medical partnership that extends beyond the first phase of recovery.
MPOM’s work in Dominica offers a model for the type of support they hope to provide, including post-disaster care, clinical training, refurbishment of health centers, and the creation of a simulation lab for the nursing schools.
“We don’t just fly in to deliver supplies and then fly out. We want long-term projects,” she said.
Direct Relief provided Medical Professionals on a Mission with $275,000 in financial support to establish a Caribbean response team for disasters, including Hurricane Melissa.
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