Christmas will arrive early for a few joint replacement patients who will get their surgery free of charge at Franklin Hospital in Valley Stream or Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. The two hospitals will provide the operations for a few needy patients who are either uninsured or underinsured. Both hospitals are part of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. Giles Scuderi, M.D., vice president of North Shore-LIJ’s orthopedic services, will perform surgeries at Franklin. He has been offering the free service since 2011.
Free Joint Replacement Surgery for Needy
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The program, which is organized under the auspices of Operation Walk USA, is an independent medical humanitarian organization that provides free hip or knee replacement surgeries to patients in the U.S. Operation Walk serves patients who do not qualify for government assistance programs and cannot afford surgery on their own.
In just the three years since founding, this program has attracted the volunteer support of more than 140 dedicated orthopedic surgeons who, once a year during the first week of December, donate their time and skills to restoring the mobility, self-dignity and productivity for those among us who can’t afford large joint surgery.
In 2010, when Operation Walk USA was founded, only 9 hospitals in 9 states with 15 surgeons participated. The number of patients served that first year was 44. Which may sound small, but for each of those patients it was life-changing. In terms of the economic value of that gift, those physicians and hospitals donated an astounding $1.2 million worth of time and expertise.
Last year, the numbers literally exploded. In 2013, 32 states (triple in 3 years), 70 hospitals and 140 surgeons (10x !!) treated 203 patients.
Since 2010, Operation Walk USA has given back to the broader community an absolutely astonishing $13.3 million dollars in pro-bono medical services and brought life and dignity back to 492 patients.
Rock on!
To volunteer—and we hope you will—please check this great organization out at www.opwalkusa.com.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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