POST FALLS - Instead of just hearing about the local medical field, Pierot Julien wanted to see it action.

And take the knowledge back with him to Haiti.

Julien, administrator of a privately-funded hospital in Cap-Haitien on the north coast of Haiti, is touring area facilities with Rick Richards, CEO of Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital in Post Falls.

Julien said he's impressed with the care patients are given here and he hopes to implement such practices at the 40-bed facility he works at that opened in 2007.

"The relationship between the patients and hospital personnel are very positive here," Julien said through a French interpreter, adding that the situation is different in Haiti.

Julien said he's interested in implementing the role of a case manager, which Haitian facilities don't have, to assist with communication.

He said he's also interested in ways to hold personnel accountable to ensure they're efficient and productive. He plans to take back job descriptions so employees have a clear understanding of their duties.

"I need to instill more of a teamwork philosophy to my staff and make sure people feel that they are a part of the process," Julien said, adding that his staff of department heads meets just once a month rather than weekly like some local facilities.

Julien, 33, said he feels fortunate to tour local facilities such as NIACH, St. Luke's Rehabilitation Center, Deaconess and Sacred Heart medical centers in Spokane and Kootenai Medical Center because he's unaware of any other Haitian hospital administrator who has.

His trip was funded by the Haiti Hospital Appeal and Baptist Convention of Haiti, which launched the hospital he works at and is supported by several charities in different countries.

Richards met Julien during one of three relief trips last year to Haiti that employees of Ernest Health, NIACH's parent company, went on through the Utah nonprofit Healing Hands for Haiti.

"We kept communicating afterward and he wanted to see our health care system," Richards said.

Julien said the need for health care - and therefore the support from other countries - remains high in poverty-stricken Haiti. As if the earthquake in January 2010 wasn't enough disaster, cholera, an infection of the small intestine that causes diarrhea, has taken hold and AIDS remains a concern.

"Haiti has many challenges ahead," Julien said. "In order to realize the goal of the reconstruction of Haiti, we're calling on all nations to bring forth assistance in the form of finances, materials or education in whatever shape or form they're able to."

Richards said it was evident on his trip to Haiti that there's much work that needs to be done.

"There's still rubble in the streets," he said. "With the other events that have happened in the world, Haiti can be forgotten."

Julien said his hospital is still assisting earthquake victims, but it has also treated more than 4,000 people with cholera since October. A photo at one of the hospital's "rally points" shows a long line of people waiting to be seen.

The hospital Julien oversees is currently undergoing an expansion and the vision is to become a 500-bed facility. The staff grew from 18 before the quake to 54 afterward.

Julien has a bachelor's degree in business administration, but he plans to get a master's degree to better serve his hospital and country.

"Our hospital wants to help Haiti," Julien said. "We can be inspired by a bigger vision (similar to local facilities) of how to run a hospital."

How to help

• For more information on Pierot Julien's hospital or how to donate, visit www.haitihospitalappeal.org.