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In 2008, a team of medical professionals set out for the Dominican Republic with one purpose: to provide joint replacements and rehabilitation services to patients who cannot afford the cost of surgery in their country. This spring, Operation Walk Boston is as strong as ever as its members prepare to travel to the Dominican Republic for their fifth annual mission.
This year’s team consists of 52 participants, including six surgeons, six anesthesiologists, two orthopedic residents and a number of nurses, physical therapists and operating room staff. While many of the team members are BWH employees, about 5 percent of them hail from other Boston-area hospitals. The group is led by BWH Chief of Orthopedic Surgery Thomas S. Thornhill, MD.
“We are all extremely excited to see our patients and to get to work doing what we do every year,” said Roya Ghazinouri, PT, DPT, MS, BWH’s clinical supervisor for Inpatient Physical Therapy and chief operating officer for Operation Walk Boston, who noted that most of the 43 patients awaiting the team this year will receive bilateral joint replacements.
In Santo Domingo, the country’s capital, many individuals cannot provide for their families due to the disabling physical limitations of degenerative arthritis or trauma. Others cannot even walk around their homes because they lack basic equipment, like canes and walkers.
This year, in addition to treating the prescreened patients, a group of nurses will travel to the site two days earlier to lead a nursing education seminar at the local hospital.
“During our pre-mission nursing conference, we will be reviewing our standards for scrubbing in and sterile techniques in the operating room, fall prevention, infection control and nursing management for patients after joint replacement,” Ghazinouri said. “We were asked to help the hospital prepare for its International Joint Commission accreditation, and our physicians and surgeons are also doing an educational program. More than 40 Dominican medical students will also receive on-site training.”
The first group of clinicians leaves for the Dominican Republic March 17, and the rest of the team departs March 21.
“We’re all excited to be returning for the fifth year,” said Ghazinouri. “We love what we do, and we’ve developed a bond with the patients and the community.”