Last May, Alex Remmel, a junior at Harrisburg Academy organized a Junior Tennis Tournament fundraiser for the world Surgical Foundation. Players from Harrisburg Academy, Cedar Cliff, Camphill, Central Dauphin, Trinity Bishop McDevitt, Boiling Spring, Hershey and Red Land high schools. Thanks to the efforts of Alex and all the participants, more than $3,000 was raise to purchase supplies for surgical mission camps.

Alex is organizing another Junior Tennis Tournament and it will be held on Saturday, May 26th for ages 13-18, from 10am to 1pm at the Harrisburg Academy Courts. For more details, you can email Alex at Remmel.a@hbgacademy.org and be sure to include WSF Tennis in the subject line.

Sponsorship opportunities and registration information is available. Click here to download the form:

2012 – Flyer–JR TENNIS

Dr. Domingo T. Alvear, President and founder of World Surgical Foundation has been selected to receive the 2012 ICSUS/Pfizer Humanitarian Service Award. He will be recognized during the Convocation Ceremony on Saturday evening, June 9th in Atlanta, Ga.

His extensive work around the world with the World Surgical Foundation as well as recently under the auspices of ICS demonstrates what giving back is all about. During the Convocation ICS colleagues will acknowledge his accomplishments and contributions to humanity, hopefully to be inspired to undertake similar activities.

The International College of Surgeons (ICS) is a world federation of general surgeons and surgical specialists. Founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1935 by Dr. Max Thorek, ICS has over 60 organized national Sections around the world with approximately 6,000 members in over 100 countries. Membership is available to qualified surgeons in all specialties as well as to Anesthesiologists, Pathologists and Radiologists.

With almost 2,000 members, the United States Section is the largest national chapter. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, members of the US Section speak over 40 languages and are dedicated to the global advancement of surgical excellence as well as humanitarian service to those in need.

ICS collaborates with many like-minded organizations to achieve its goals. They are actually the only non-governmental organization representing surgery that has an official relationship with the World Health Organization. Representatives from ICS formally participate in the World Health Assembly held annually in Geneva.

The United States Section of the International College of Surgeons is developing its own humanitarian projects as well as collaborating with the World Surgical Foundation (WSF), Operation Hope and other humanitarian organizations on medical missions and surgical teams. Members of the College are encouraged to become involved in these worthy projects directly or through organizations such as the WSF.

Congratulations Dr. Alvear and World Surgical Foundation!

To see you how you can participate with World Surgical Foundation, please visit the “How to Help” tab on our website at www.worldsurgicalfoundation.org or call 1-717-232-1404.

I recently emailed the team members from the 2012 Kalibo trip asking for feedback, a story, some humor, etc. that they would like to share with our readers. This is what Alice Mendegorin who joins the group from Brooklyn, New York had to say about a memorable and humorous moment:
The Ambulance Ride
“The van that supposed to take us to the hospital did not show up one morning, apparently it was not coming. The governor’s office sent an ambulance. Twelve people climbed aboard, sitting as if horseback on a long oxygen tank, a wooden gurney and each other’s laps. They all squeezed in a very small vehicle. No one complained. Everyone treating the ride as a limo ride. People were laughing, taking pictures and joking. Being a WFS volunteer makes you more flexible and turn a bad situation into a funny one. Regards and God bless.”

Thank you Alice for sharing!

And by the way, I was on that little ride, and they even had the red lights flashing the whole way to the hospital!

Dr.s Domingo & Veneranda Alvear

PinnacleHealth is proud to collaborate with their honorary event chairs, Dr.s Domingo and Veneranda Alvear in highlighting the 15th annual PinnacleHealth Auxiliary Club PHantistic “Star Light, Star Bright – Shine for a Child Tonight” Gala which will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the WestShore Country Club.

PinnacleHealth Children’s Fund includes a variety of different programs and services that reach out into our community by providing children’s services ranging from surgery to counseling. From early disability interventions to primary care, PinnacleHealth is committed to the development of strong families and caring for children from birth to adulthood.

Dr. Domingo Alvear is a nationally known pediatric surgeon and chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery at PinnacleHealth System. Dr. Veneranda Alvear is a respected anesthesiologist with Riverside Anesthesia Associates, LTD in Harrisburg.

Since 1965, Dr. Domingo Alvear has been helping children overcome unbelievable odds with his delicate surgical skills. In addition, he is the founder and president of World Surgical Foundation. He and his wife participate in numerous mission trips around the world with the World Surgical Foundation which will be celebrating its 15th year of providing surgical care to the underserved of the world on October 27, 2012 at the Blue Ridge Country Club.

Howard Directing Traffic for the OR Staff

Recorded 2/16/12 in Kalibo, Philippines One of the newest members on the team is Howard Coverdale. A first-timer on a medical mission trip, he took to the whole thing like a duck takes to water. We were all so grateful for the way he got his job done and helped everything to run so smoothly. This post is very late, but on February 16th, I had time to sit down with Howard after our day at the hospital and find out a little about him. He is a surgical technologist, trained at Jeanes Hospital in Philadelphia, has been practicing for over 15 years and is currently teaches at Lancaster General College where he met Connie Corrigan, the Dean of Allied Health Sciences and also am active volunteer with WSF.

Connie talked with Howard and asked if he was interested in medical missions and well, here he is. For Howard, this trip serves 2 masters – one, he is doing a charity / community project as part of his career path, and he has always wanted to travel afar and see how other medical facilities operate. He says that he thought he knew about conditions in an impoverished nation, but it did not hit him until he was here and on the 3rd day of our trip, he needed to go up to the floors and talk with some of the nurses about some of the patients. Stunned by the conditions of the charity ward, boggled by the paperwork and touched deeply by how the patient’s families provide care for the patients, while the hospital serves merely as a ‘building’. He said, “It brings such a feeling of gratitude in my heart on how fortunate we really are.

He has three children, and hopes someday that they too, can have an experience like this, so that they will also understand and reach out to the needs of others in some way.

When asked is he would come again, there was no hesitation, just a big smile and “Yes, without a doubt. I love it!” Thank you Howard for your hard work and your big heart. I hope to see you again on the next trip! -Cheryl

Our newly adopted hospital in Coron

World Surgical Foundation is pleased to announce the formal adoption of the Coron District Hospital (CDH).  During the Philippine College of Surgeons (PCS) Annual Convention held in December of 2011, the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed by the Undersecretary of Health, Dr. Teodoro Herbose, Governor Gaham Mitra of Palawan, Mayor Mario Reyes of Coron, PCS President, Dr. Josefina Almonte, PSA President Dr. Minerva Calimag and PSA President Ms. Julie Mangahis.

 Dr. Beda R Espenda is the Head of Pediatric Surgery at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City, Philippines and has worked with WSF on several missions represented Dr. Domingo Alvear, World Surgical Foundation President.

The Coron District Hospital was built in 1972 as a 25-bed district hospital operating as a secondary hospital. It is the core referral hospital for 4 municipalities namely, Busuanga, Coron, Culion and Linapacan. The nearest tertiary health facility is located in Manila which is 190 nautical miles away. Hospital clients are mostly walk-in patients and referrals made by catchment RHUs and from the adjacent barangays of Coron.

 The main objective of this “adopt -a-hospital program” is to provide quality surgical services to the underserved regions/localities in the country needing surgical specialists. Unlike ordinary surgical/medical missions which “come and go”,  this project will provide a sustainable program where, volunteer doctors, nurses and other volunteers will schedule and perform surgical operations of different specialties on a regular basis. The project will provide a “focused-type” of surgical operations, for example, Pediatric cases, OB-Gyn, Urology and so forth..

The Coron District Hospital of Northern Palawan, serving a group of 4 of islands, is the pilot hospital we have chosen with the concurrence of all the stakeholders. Our first mission was last Jan 4-6, 2012, of which we operated 16 major hernias, both adult and pediatric and several minor operations.

 World Surgical Foundation is busy packing supplies and preparing a 40 foot container for shipment to Coron and plans a surgical mission there in the winter of 2012.  To be part of this exciting venture, contact us at mail@worldsurgicalfoundation.org or call 717-232-1404.

Every year hundreds of children are born with anorectal malformations such as imperforate anus and Hirschsprung’s disease. Imperforate anus means that the opening to the anus is missing or blocked and Hirschsprung’s disease is a blockage of the large intestine due to improper muscle movement in the bowel – both are life threatening conditions.

In third world countries, babies die from these conditions or they may have a colostomy procedure. During this procedure, the large intestine is cut and attached to an opening in the abdominal wall. This allows bowel contents to be discharged into a bag. While this treats the problem of a dysfunctional colon, it requires a lot of care and maintenance. Patients with colostomies usually do not go to school as they do not have the proper colostomy bags and follow up care and most have a very foul odor.

There is a procedure that can be performed to help these children called a “Pull-Through” which repairs the colon by connecting the functioning portion of the bowl to the anus. The pull-though procedure is the typical method for treating Hirschsprung’s in younger patients. For patients with imperforate anus, an additional step of creating an anus must also be performed.

Two weeks ago, following the mission in Kalibo, Drs. Domingo and Vennie Alvear traveled to Iloilo City to conduct WSF’s first “Pull-Through Mission” for the Philippines to try and alleviate the backlog of children and adults with anorectal malformations and Hirschsprung’s disease. They identified 100 cases with colostomies waiting to have reconstructive surgery in Iloilo City and surrounding areas. During the mission, they worked with 2 local pediatric surgeons and 4 other surgeons (2 from Manila, 1 from Cebu, and one from Bohol) and performed 15 extensive reconstructive surgeries in several days.

This trip was more than just serving patients, as it also had a focus of teaching and working with the Philippine doctors to train them to help the patients in their communities. Dr. Alvear held a symposium entitled “Management of Ano-Rectal Malformations in the Newborn.” With this training and hands on experience, the surgeons are now better equipped to provide care for their patients.

Caring for patients and teaching the local doctors has always been a focus of World Surgical Foundation. We hope you will continue to follow our journeys and watch for more information on our hospital adoption in Coron where will hope to continue our goal of empowering the local medical community to care for their own.