New knees for those in need.
Eight years ago, Dr. Stephen Smith, Physician Assistant Katie Smith and medical personnel from Peachtree Orthopedics teamed up with One World Surgery in Honduras to conduct annual mission trips to perform knee surgeries at the Holy Family Surgery Center on the grounds of a children’s home, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters). They’ve since performed about 40 knee transplants per visit.
“This year, we’ll make two trips,” says Katie Smith, who coordinates the medical missions. Most years, the volunteers are medical personnel from a variety of practices, but the April trip was entirely made up of Peachtree employees. “In June, we’ll join two other teams from Charleston and Greenville, South Carolina.”
The soft supplies are donated by Piedmont Hospital, and CrossLink in Norcross provides the orthopedic implants. “They’re our largest donors by far, and with their supplies, we literally change lives by giving patients the ability to return to work to support their families,” Dr. Smith says.
Volunteers usually arrive on Saturday, set up on Sunday and operate Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Honduran surgeon Dr. Merlin Atunez, who grew up at NPH, identifies patients and provides continuity of care.
Serving the underserved in South America began 70 years ago when Peachtree Orthopedics’ founder, Dr. James Funk, took teams to Haiti annually. Next year, they’ll expand to the Dominican Republic.
PEACHTREE ORTHOPEDICS
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