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However, this year Adolph V. Lombardi, Jr., MD, President of Joint Implant Surgeons in New Albany, Ohio, took the initiative to a whole new level: providing care for underserved populations in the United States. Operation Walk USA, which took place during the first weekend in December, involved 60 orthopedic surgeons in 18 states at 26 hospitals performing charitable joint replacements on 85 patients. The initiative was supported by The Hip Society, The Knee Society and American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, and orthopedic device companies pitched in to donate implants for the cases. Nike also donated 100 pairs of shoes for patients to wear after their procedures.
Operation Walk USA 2011 has been deemed a success, but Dr. Lombardi has even bigger plans for the future. He discusses the importance of providing charitable orthopedic care to Americans in need and what might be in store for Operation Walk USA 2012.
Q: What was the impetus for Operation Walk USA?
Dr. Adolph Lombardi: I’ve been on Operation Walk mission trips to provide orthopedic care to people in other countries and when I arrive back home, I always wonder why we didn’t have the same type of events in our communities. At the beginning of 2011, my group launched the first Operation Walk USA initiative and treated charity cases locally. Afterward, we challenged our colleagues across the country to do the same.
All the societies agreed that this was a good mission and the society presidents supported it. My executive assistant and I put together this program, which was essentially a template for organizing the event in communities across the United States. We described how to go out and search for potential beneficiaries — the working poor who can’t get insurance or don’t qualify for Medicare. From the response I’ve received so far, the physicians worked very hard to get this done at their respective institutions.
Q: Why is it important for orthopedic surgeons to become involved in charity care in their communities?
AL: There are many people without insurance in this country who could truly benefit from joint replacement surgery, and helping them is part of our responsibility as physicians. The camaraderie we can build at our respective institutions by offering care to these patients is impressive and participating in the program is spiritually uplifting. The physicians who participated in Operation Walk USA were amazed at how thankful the patients and their families were and how many people they were able to help.
The program serves not only to help patients, but also increase the relationships between physicians and hospital employees. There are so many people who were excited to be involved and have the opportunity to help someone in need.
Participating in charitable care also demonstrates how deeply surgeons care about people. There has been a lot of change this year with recalled implants, which gives some people a negative perception of what we do. This is one way of showing that we have big hearts and we are out there to help.
Q: What challenges do physicians face when trying to begin Operation Walk USA in their communities?
AL: One big challenge is convincing the hospital administrators and CEOs that this program is a good thing. They are nervous it could open a flood of charitable cases and they argue that the hospital already provides charity care. You have to make a commitment to the project and obtain buy-in from the hospital before pushing forward with coordinating the care.
Then, the challenge is finding appropriate patients — they can often be found at local charity clinics. Once the patients are in order, you need to organize preoperative visits, cardiology clearance and dental clearance; these specialists must agree to provide care pro bono as well. As the physician, you are the patient’s champion. Our team has created a template to help surgeons get involved. Surgeons who are interested can go to the website or contact me for more information. We have helped a number of physicians get this done. The drive needs to come from the physician champion.
Q: There are so many different entities involved in providing good orthopedic care — how were you able to organize all those people?
AL: First of all, we had the big five device manufacturers, as well as a couple smaller companies, donate implants. Locally, we also received donations for pain medications. There were anesthesiologists, physical therapists, radiologists and medical consultants to evaluate the patients who all donated their time. In some cases, there were cardiologists and pulmonary specialists who were available to volunteer for complex cases or in the event of complications. There were also instances where skilled nursing facilities donated services. It takes time and energy, but everyone came together as part of our program.
Q: Are you planning another Operation Walk USA event in the future?
AL: Absolutely — this is not a dying event. Our first attempt was a dry run to see if we could get everyone involved. Much to my happiness and surprise, we had an overwhelming response from surgeons and hospitals. I have heard from a few providers who took the event a step further with discharge parties or organizing gifts for patients to take home. My plan is to make Operation Walk USA a 501(c)( 3) organization and continue with annual events. Next year after Thanksgiving, we’ll do it again, but bigger and better. We’re going to have all 50 states and several hundred physicians involved — that’s my goal.
Our group recently also had a reunion with the first 14 patients from earlier in the year with representatives from Biomet, who supplied the implants, and other community members who donated time and materials. The event was a “thank you” breakfast with everyone involved. A feeling of good will was generated amongst everyone in attendance. Especially so close to the holiday season, it’s feels good to work hand in hand to help others.
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