COVER STORY
time last summer,” says Debra Messina, MD, of Stony Brook University. “Work- ing with the minister of health, local Peru- vian physicians and ophthalmologists, we were able to establish an operating room in the midst of an elementary school. Sur- gical Eye Expeditions (SEE) from Cali- fornia lent us the equipment and instru- ments to perform the surgeries.” Nine staff members from the pro-
gram transported 25 pieces of cargo, es- sentially an entire operating room (OR) to Peru. “Creating a completely porta- ble operating room, working with for- eign government leaders on the national and municipal level, working with fel- low ophthalmologists locally, nationally and internationally, all in an effort to give a patient population that will travel 11 hours for their cataract surgery has been an indescribable experience: one that both Dr. Sable and I highly recom- mend,” Messina says. Sable says he came away from the mission being the most satisfied he has ever been as a physician. “Several pa- tients stuck in my mind,” he says. “Our very first, a middle-aged man by Peru- vian standards, claimed to have poor vision and was evaluated in the preop- erative area. His vision was 20/50. Cer- tainly not terrible, and with supplies to operate on just 50 people, we wanted to save for those who needed it most. Turns out this man was only complain- ing of difficulty reading. After fitting him with reading glasses he cried out with joy ‘Aye, perfecto!’ followed by hugs for everyone in scrubs. Imagine a $2 over-the-counter pair of spectacles and a new man was created.” Sable is proud of his team for the quality of care they delivered and “most- ly for what they helped me achieve as a physician but more as a person,” he says. “Many thanks to my new friends here and in Peru and, of course, mostly to my patients who always teach me how to be a better physician.” A Promise to Peru is looking for as- sistance from volunteers for financial
12 ASC FOCUS JULY 2013
Honduran women from the Linca Native Indian Tribe wait at a school to see Andrew Puckett, MD, a surgeon at Missoula Bone & Joint Surgery Center in Missoula, Montana, and other physicians who travel to that country every year to provide charity care.
Two days of travel to get there, eight days with little or no sleep on cots, noisy roosters, barking dogs, two more days to get
home . . . worth every minute.” —Andrew Puckett, MD, Missoula Bone & Joint Surgery Center
support, donations of medical and sur- gical equipment and medications.
Missoula Bone & Joint (MB&J) Surgery Center, Missoula, Montana Andrew Puckett, MD, one of the nine surgeons of the ASC, goes to Honduras to provide charity care. “The people we work with in the small village of La Es- paranza, which means ‘hope’ in Span- ish, would never have an opportunity to receive the care we are able to provide for even such a short period of time,” Puckett says. Last year was Puckett’s fifth trip to Honduras. “During this trip the team did 21 surgeries in four days,” he says. “Most of the patients were children. We fixed multiple upper extremity fractures . . . . that were truly life-changing sur- geries for most of these children.” An RN, a scrub technician and an anesthesiologist make up the rest of the
team that accompanies Puckett. The surgery center works with Missoula Medical Aid. “Two days of travel to get there,
eight days with little or no sleep on cots, noisy roosters, barking dogs, two more days to get home . . . worth every min- ute,” Puckett says. The MB&J Surgery Center physi- cians also volunteer their services for the Osprey, a local semiprofessional baseball team, and do sports physical and locker room visits at the local high school games. A few of the surgeons work with Partnership Health Center, which works with low-income people and see patients for free.
Peak One Surgery Center, Frisco, Colorado The ASC hosts an annual charity day— Summit Community Surgery Day— and last year was its third year. “This
PHOTO COURTESY OF MISSOULA BONE & JOINT SURGERY CENTER
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