Orthopedic surgeons at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., provided free knee replacements to local patients who could not afford joint replacement surgery.
Here are four highlights:
1. Christiana Care Health System partnered with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons for Operation Walk USA 2017, which covered all treatment costs for patients unable to pay for joint replacement surgery.
2. Craig Smucker, MD, is one of the orthopedic surgeons who participated in the event.
3. Since being established in 2010, Operation Walk USA provided 700 patients with free total joint replacement. The group estimates in 2017, 60 patients will receive free joint replacements surgeries from 40 volunteer surgeons.
4. Christiana Care orthopedic surgeons perform roughly 2,900 total hip and knee replacements annually. The hospital also provides nearly 100 orthopedic surgeries free to patients.