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The ILAC Mission (Institute for Latin American Concern) was founded in Santiago, Dominican Republic in the 1970's by Father Ernesto Travieso, as an international Christian collaborative, healthcare and educational organization (http://www.creighton.edu/ilac). ILAC is a 501c (3) Organization deeply entrenched with the people of the island. Through the years many healthcare professionals have volunteered their time and talent to serve the indigent patients of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The ILAC Mission has grown in size and sophistication, thanks to a committed Board of Directors, hours of volunteer work and private philanthropic giving. The ILAC Compound now includes a church, cafeteria, administrative offices, dormitory, clinic, pharmacy and a three-operating room surgery center with recovery area. The ILAC Mission’s community based outreach program accesses 130 remote villages throughout the Dominican Republic. The Haitian community is also served through ILAC’s connection with the Jesuit Refugee Service (www.jrsusa.org). Creighton University sponsors a number of national & international volunteers through this humanitarian mission. Teams of primary care/specialty physicians, dentists, optometrists, medical/dental nursing, pharmacy and undergraduate students continue to work to build healthy rural communities throughout the Dominican Republic.
In the winter of 2005, an Orthopaedic Team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgical nurses, OR technicians, Peace Corp translators and volunteers began treating Orthopaedic patients at the ILAC Center. Our Orthopaedic Surgeons are involved in the education of the Orthopaedic Residents in Santiago in fracture care & reconstructive surgical training. Our Program continues to support Orthopaedic Trauma education at Cabral y Baez, a large public hospital in Santiago that sees hundreds of road traffic accident victims every year, who have little resources to pay for care. We have provided free Orthopaedic surgical implants through Surgical Implant Generation Network (SIGN) (www.sign-post.org). Over 600 femur and tibia fractures have been treated since we started the Program. Our Team coordinator, Mr. Patrick McLaughlin, four Orthopaedic Surgeons, including myself have made a long-term personal commitment to continue to provide medical leadership, surgical expertise and educational instruction for the Dominican Orthopaedic Doctors. Our long-term succession plan is to raise the bar of Orthopaedic care for Hispaniola, so ultimately the island’s physicians can sustain their own Orthopaedic Medical Care at a quality level.
Our trip this year coincided with the Haitian earthquake. Fortunately we had appropriate
fracture instrumentation, surgical supplies and Team Members to dispatch an Orthopaedic
Trauma Team to Jimani on the Haitian border, 30 kilometers from the epicenter to
provide medical/surgical care to the Haitian earthquake victims. Creighton University
also sent vast amounts of supplies for the Haitian Relief Effort, as well as sending
several Teams of Physicians/Nurses who worked side by side with not only our Team,
but also with Surgical Teams from many countries. We were able to care for hundreds
of devastated patients over several days. This year we performed operations on over
80 surgical patients, non-surgically reduced and casted pediatric fractures and
provided several hundred Orthopaedic evaluations on the Haitian border, as well
as the ILAC Clinic.
Dr. Tessier met with an international leadership Team from Physicians for Peace (www.physiciansforpeace.org) at the ILAC Mission in Santiago, Dominican Republic. PFP provides many services to both Haiti and the Dominican Republic including rehabilitation/physical therapy training and education. Five years ago this group began an Organization for in-country Rehabilitation Education called Walking Free Haiti/Dominican Republic. Additionally, Dr. Tessier met with the Bio-Medical Engineer, Dr. Roger Gonzalez and his prosthetist from the Legs for All Organization in Longview, Texas (www.legsforall.com). They have originated a technique for fabrication of a highly functional, but low cost prosthetic knee that they have used in many developing countries around the globe. We are formalizing a collaboration with Legs for All, Physicians for Peace, and the ILAC Mission. This will allow us to proceed with establishing a Prosthetic Lab at the ILAC Mission that will serve the Haitians, as well as the indigent amputees of the Dominican Republic. We are hiring a certified Prosthetist from Venezuela, Ranvier Villegas, who will be working not only in our new ILAC Prosthetic Lab, but also Patronato Rehab Institute, and Sacre Coeur Hospital (CRUDEM) in Milot, Haiti.
Dr. Tessier spent several days at Sacre Coeur Hospital's (CRUDEM) Prosthetic Lab with Matt Reungert, a St. Louis Prosthetist. They were able to fit and fabricate several leg and arm prosthesis' for earthquake victims there. A collaboration between ILAC and CRUDEM has begun. Our goal is to have our new prosthetist become a mentor for the Prosthetic Lab Technicians that he will be working with, and through this relationship raise the access/availability of prosthetic care for the indigent people of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic and Haiti are two countries on one island who share a massive need for Orthopaedic and Prosthetic care. Now, more than ever, there will be a generation of victims with crippling deformities and amputations, who will require Rehabilitation Services for years to come.
Our Team hopes to open an Orthopaedic Radiology & Prosthetic Center to create a platform to support the reconstructive procedures we are performing at the Mission. It will allow us to expand our evaluation of limb deformity patients and provide prosthetic limbs for the impoverished of the Dominican Republic and the Haitian earthquake victims. Currently the ILAC Mission does not have X-Ray equipment. We aim to create a digital X-Ray Program that can serve not only the Orthopaedic Mission, but all of the primary care services (chest X-Ray etc.) that are necessary for long-term maintenance of chronic conditions throughout the year. I have contacted World Health Imaging Telemedicine & Informatics Alliance (WHITIA) in hopes of obtaining a WHIS-RAD Machine (digital X-ray), Processor, and X-Ray Work Station. Because traditional X-ray Systems use films and chemicals which are expensive and unsustainable for underserved countries, WHITIA aims to provide low-cost, sustainable digital imaging systems to developing countries. Our Radiology Program will utilize teleradiography, which will allow a telemedicine connection with our Orthopaedic Teams here in the United States for pre-operative planning and fracture care co-ordination with the Dominican Orthopaedic Doctors. ILAC Ortho has begun a collaboration with Mr. Michael Mendonca, President of the Ellen Meadows Prosthetic Hand Foundation (www.LN-4.org) to become a site for distribution of prosthetic arms for Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Our team of Physical Therapists will be arriving at the ILAC Mission May 1, 2010 with the first shipment of upper extremity prosthetic devices. The photo (# 12 from left) shows a young boy using the LN-4 hand prosthesis. The cost of this prosthesis is covered by Rotary Club International.
There has been an ongoing need for Rehabilitation/Prosthetic services for Haiti and the Dominican Republic even before the January 12, 2010 earthquake. It is estimated by Handicap International that several thousand people have suffered crushed limbs, which resulted in amputations. It is possible that this Haitian earthquake may result in the largest ever loss of limbs from a single natural disaster. I have consulted leaders of the American Academy of Orthotists & Prosthetists (www.oandp.org), Hangar Prosthetics, Inc., Catholic Relief Services (www.crs.org), and Mr. Oliver Flambert, founder of Helping Hand Haiti (www.helpinghandhaiti.com) regarding on site logistical collaboration for a comprehensive prosthetic limb fitting for Haitian amputees. Currently, we are in discussions with Dr. Roger Gonzalez, a bio-engineering professor from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas. Dr. Gonzalez has created a durable, hard plastic, easy-to-make artificial leg that costs about $20.00 in contrast to $2,000. for a comparable prosthetic limb in the U.S. It can withstand heat, humidity, and the rugged geography of a place like Haiti, and can be repaired with nuts and bolts from the hardware store (www.legsforall.com). We hope to implement a Prosthetic Center at the ILAC Mission that replicates the sustainable projects that Dr. Gonzalez has established in Sierra Leone, Bangladesh and Senegal. Ultimately, this mission project remains committed to emphasizing low-cost, locally manufactured prosthetics. Education of Haitians and Dominicans in prosthetic fabrication will ensure long-term sustainability, when outside resources in years to come may no longer be available.
When devastating acts occur, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, fires and floods, the enormity of the suffering envelops us early on. Over time, when the drama of the moment begins to fade, it becomes very difficult to stay the course. The ILAC Mission has proven its sustainability in providing a service of hope that transcends all barriers of race, culture and social class. The world watches how Americans act toward those less fortunate than themselves, and just about everyone on earth is less fortunate than we are. Any support that you may offer this humanitarian cause would be greatly appreciated. I would like to assure you of several things. The small size and the efficiency of the ILAC organization, the quality and dedication of the Dominican ILAC Board and volunteer Physicians, and the lack of governmental involvement insure that all gifts will have a significant impact on the lives of many. Now, more than ever, there will be a generation of victims with crippling deformities and amputations, who will require Orthopaedic services for years to come. If you are interested in learning more about the ILAC Mission, please feel free to contact me (jtessier@signaturehealth.net) God Bless You!
Donations:
Please make check payable to: Creighton University/ILAC-ORTHO
Mail to: Marlena Minshall, ILAC Specialist
Creighton University
2500 California Plaza
ILAC Office-Criss III, Room 262
Omaha, NE 68178
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