Costa Rica Global Outreach Program

GLOBAL OUTREACH SUCCESS STORY - Costa Rica

Partnering with fantastic surgeons and medical staff at the Hospital Nacional de Ninos in Costa Rica’s capital city of San Jose, SpineHope launched an outreach program in 2014 to help underprivileged children receive charity spine surgery to correct spinal deformities and other debilitating spine conditions.

Our efforts proved to be incredibly successful, resulting in 43 spine surgeries. For our week-long trips, we brought volunteer teams of 10-15 (including surgeons, implant representatives, neuro-monitoring techs, anesthesiologists, CRNAs, nurses, translators and on-site coordinators), as well as donated spinal implants and other product, neuromonitoring equipment, andsupplies for the children. In addition to the surgical support we provided, education on spine safety protocols and training on advanced spine deformity procedures and innovative techniques were essential components of our program. The host surgeons and hospital staff were eager to learn and our teams were excited to share acquiredknowledge and lessons learned.

Our goal has always been to help establish sustainable spine programs wherever wego, meaning we help equip locals with the knowledge and skills necessary to takecare of their own children with complex spine problems in our absence. The Costa Rica Program is a perfect example of this goal achieved. Back in 2014, there was a waiting list of over 200 Costa Rican children in need of surgery to correct their spinal deformities. In only four years, the waiting list was reduced down to only two! We are proud of the dedication that the staff at the Hospital Nacional de Niños have to takecare of their children in need and we are proud that we had the chance to be a part of this success. As we continue to provide support and education when needed in Costa Rica, there are other countries in need of our assistance. With the necessary resources, we will be able to launch new global outreach programs.

This program was endorsed by the SRS Global Outreach Program. Thank you to all involved who have made this possible including generous sponsors and donors!

2017 COSTA RICA – Our 2017 Costa Rica Medical Mission Trip (February 25–March 4, 2017) was a success! Our efforts changed the lives of 11 Costa Rican children. We took a team of 12 amazing volunteers and worked alongside local spine surgeons (Dr. Jorge Alpizar and Dr. Max Mendez), residents in training, medical staff , and volunteers at the Hospital Nacional de Niños in San Jose.

In addition to the surgeries performed, we:

Evaluated 26 children during two days of clinic (pre- op, future candidate-screening and post-op/annual follow-up);
Held a special education event, hosted and sponsored by UNIBE (Universidad de Iberoamerica) at the Park Inn Hotel, consisting of presentations from all four of our volunteer surgeons, that provided several local surgeons, physicians, students and medical staff information on state-of-the-art techniques and treatment options for complex spine conditions;
Had our global outreach program picked up by the well- respected newspaper, La Nacion (https://www.nacion.com/ciencia/salud/mision-de-medicos-de-estados-unidos-operara-a-11-ninos-de-costa-rica-con-problemas-de-la-columna/JI3G62LAM5HMBCBXKEISIBUTEU/story/); and
Were given a live segment on one of the top television news programs on local channel 6 (Vivo). Our volunteer anesthesiologist, Dr. Jorge Guerrero from San Antonio, was interviewed along with Dr. Chris an Blanco from UNIBE. We were grateful for the opportunity to share our work and mission with over 500,000 viewers.

Thank you to our 2017 Costa Rica mission trip volunteers! Without you, this medical mission would not have been possible:

BRANDON BLACK, Equipment and Implant Representa ve, Medtronic Spine USA
MATTHEW GECK, MD, Spine Surgeon, Seton Spine and Scoliosis Center
WYNN BRIDGES GORDY, Neuromonitoring Tech, NuVasive, Inc.
JORGE GUERRERO, MD, Anesthesiologist and OR Translator, Children’s Hospital of San Antonio
CURTIS JACKSON, Equipment and Implant Representa ve, Medtronic Spine USA
EMILY KEGANS, Neuromonitoring Tech, SentryNeuro
KIM KING, Onsite Coordinator and Translator, Rackspace
RYAN MURDOCK, MD, Lead Spine Surgeon, Central Texas Pediatric Orthopedics
TODD RITZMAN, MD, Spine Surgeon, Akron Children’s Hospital
LT. MARICELA SOBERANES, DNP, CRNA and Translator, in the U.S. Navy
ALEC STALL, MD, Spine Surgeon, Children’s Hospital of San Antonio
WES VARGHESE, Neuromonitoring Tech, SentryNeuro

PHOTOS FROM THE 2017 MISSION:

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2016 COSTA RICA - We took a team of 15 incredible volunteers, comprised of surgeons, physicians, monitoring techs, nurses, equipment representatives, translators and other dedicated volunteers. Working with host surgeons (Dr. Jorge Alpizar, Dr. Max Mendez and Dr. Jose Vargas), local medical staff, and local volunteers, we:

Performed 11 complex pediatric spine surgeries;
Evaluated 27 children during two days of clinic (pre-op, future candidate-screening and follow-up);
Held an education conference (hosted by MEDITEK), consisting of presentations from all 4 of our volunteer surgeons (Dr. Matthew Geck, Dr. Laurence Mermelstein, Dr. Ryan Murdock and Dr. Alec Stall), that provided several local surgeons, physicians and medical staff information on state-of-the-art techniques and treatment options for Scoliosis and other spine conditions;
Presented to a group of 40 medical staff at the Hospital Nacional de Niños on the new innovative technology, SHILLA™ (presented by volunteer surgeon Dr. Alec Stall); and
Arranged a round-table discussion where our volunteer Anesthesiologist/OR translator, Dr. Jorge Guerrero, discussed Anesthesia protocols in the United States and how they differ from those in Costa Rica.

Children That Received Operations:

Kalett Guerrero * Nayeli Vega Navarro * Fiorella Sanabria * Walter Salazar Perez * Jeimy Stewart Chaverri * Maria Valeria Chaverri Esquivel * Hilary Tatiana Tellez Duran * Isabella Peralta * Janin Alfaro Jimenez * Juan Alberto Mora Aguilar * Yeimy Lizeth Ilama Cordero

Our Amazing Volunteers - February 2016 Costa Rica Medical Mission

Brandon Black, Equipment & Implant Representative, from Medtronic, Inc. in Austin, Texas
Mae Caime, Volunteer, from Long Island Spine Specialists, P.C. in Commack, New York
Matthew Geck, MD, Trip Leader & Surgeon from Seton Spine and Scoliosis Center in Austin, Texas
Bridges Gordy, Neuromonitoring, from Biotronic NeuroNetwork in Austin, Texas
Jorge Guerrero, MD, Anesthesiologist & Translator, from Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, Texas
Curtis Jackson, Equipment & Implant Representative, from Medtronic, Inc. in Austin, Texas
Kim King , Onsite Coordinator & Translator, from Rackspace in Austin, Texas
Bari-Sue Mermelstein, MD, Volunteer, from Peace Love Pets Veterinary Care, in Commack, New York
Lawrence Mermelstein, MD, Surgeon, from Long Island Spine Specialists, P.C. in Commack, New York
Ryan Murdock, MD, Surgeon, from Central Texas Pediatric Orthopedics in Austin, Texas
Mike Murphy, Equipment and Implant Representative, from Medtronic, Inc. in San Antonio, Texas
Alec Stall, MD, Surgeon, from Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, Texas
Justin Silverstein, MD, Neuromonitoring, from Neuro Protective Solutions in New York
Kristopher Stillwell, PA, Surgeon Assistant, from Long Island Spine Specialists, P.C. in Commack, New York

This medical mission trip was a rewarding and impactful experience for all involved. The internal rewards of seeing the smiles on the children’s faces and having the realization of how we were all able to touch lives and make a significant contribution to humanity are almost indescribable. One of our volunteer surgeons and first time SpineHope team member, Dr. Laurence Mermelstein, may have said it best when he provided his post-trip feedback. He called it a, “life-changing experience” and added:

“I can honestly say this was a moving experience for us. Sometimes I forget that our mission in this career is to change lives and relieve suffering. This can be easily lost in the stress of running our own private practices in the world of medicine as a business. This past week allowed me to focus on the patient exclusively - and the appreciation we felt went beyond words (and therefore transcended any language gap). This mission itself ran almost flawlessly and was a logistical work of art. As a "newbie" to this trip, I can emphatically say I was impressed with the entire team - from organizational to medical. I hope that my presence brought a positive impact to the mission. I hope that you all can keep me in the loop going forward and I would love to hear some long term follow-up about all the patients we took care of this week. Please keep me in mind for future missions where I think I may be of service.”

Photos from our Costa Rica Medical Mission Trip - February 2016

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SpineHope Volunteers For Feb 2015 Mission Trip

Matthew Geck, MD (Spine Surgeon)
Ryan Murdock, MD (Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon)
Alec Stall, MD (Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon)
Henry "Culley" M. Hughes II, CNIM (Biotronic, Neuro-Monitoring)
Mike Urban (Biotronic Neuromonitoring)
Curtis Jackson (Medtronic, Implant Representative)
Brandon Black (Medtronic, Implant Representative)
Maricela Soberanes (CRNA/OR Translator)
Kimberley King (SpineHope Onsite Coordinator & Team Support)
Jordan Workman (SpineHope Onsite Coordinator & Team Support)

Children That Received Operations

Arline Rojas Rodriguez * Bianca Mendoza Poveda * Brenda Delgado Marchena * Emily Reyes Rivas * Ismael Torres Jimenez * Jordan Munoz Gonzalez * Maricruz Bolanos Barrillo * Rachel Araya Ramos * Sashlyn Alvarez Brenes * Wilbeth Orozco Castillo

Photos from our Costa Rica Medical Mission Trip - February 2015