|
Salt Lake Regional Teams with Operation Walk USA to Provide No-Cost Hip and Knee Replacements
Nine Utah patients receiving new knees or hips Dec. 2 as part of Operation Walk USA 2011
Nov. 30, 2011
On Friday, Dec. 2, Salt Lake Regional Medical Center and the orthopedic surgeons on the medical staff at the Center for Precision Joint Replacement will give back to the community by teaming with Operation Walk USA 2011 to provide hip and knee replacements to nine Utah patients in need. The nine patients have been preselected by the Operation Walk team based on need, and the surgeries will be provided to them at no cost.
“This opportunity to provide life-changing surgeries to members of our community who otherwise couldn’t obtain them is both humbling and rewarding,” said Aaron Hofmann, M.D., board-certified orthopedic surgeon on the medical staff and director of the Center for Precision Joint Replacement at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center. “Painful and non-function knees and hips are a tremendous hindrance to quality of life, and the people we help through Operation Walk have often lived with their disability for decades. The new-found freedom and mobility provided by a new knee or hip can literally change someone’s outlook on life.”
The nine Salt Lake Regional patients will receive four knee and five hip replacements. Dr. Hofmann will perform the surgeries along with orthopedic surgeons Jeremy McCandless, M.D., Trevor Magee, M.D., and Kim Bertin, M.D.
Building on the global success of Operation Walk, an international effort that has improved the lives and mobility of more than 5,000 patients in developing countries, approximately 55 orthopedic surgeons will provide free hip and knee replacement surgery to more than 90 patients at 23 hospitals in 15 states on Dec. 2 and 3 as part of Operation Walk USA 2011.
All aspects of treatment – surgery, hospitalization, and pre-and postoperative care – are provided at no cost to the patients. Operation Walk USA 2011 is a collaborative effort between three orthopedic organizations: The Hip Society, The Knee Society, and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), as well as 23 participating hospitals.
The Operation Walk surgeries at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center follow a similar effort earlier this year when a medical team led by Dr. Hofmann representing the Utah chapter of Operation Walk performed dozens of free joint replacement surgeries for patients in El Salvador.
Jeff Frandsen, CEO of Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, said, “Salt Lake Regional Medical Center is extremely pleased to support Operation Walk and to provide means to change patients’ lives. Health care is about healing of all types, and the effects of these types of surgeries go well beyond the physical body.”
Millions of Americans suffer from painful joint problems and may end up one day needing a joint replacement. Each year, more than 900,000 hip and knee replacements are performed in the United States, but this figure does not include the many people who go without the surgery because they don’t have the financial capacity to afford the procedure.
Device manufacturers Biomet, DePuy, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, and Zimmer donated the hip and knee implants. Total Joint Orthopedics, a Salt Lake City-based manufacturer, is providing the hip replacements locally. Nike will provide a pair of new shoes for each patient.
|
