SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Hospital teamed up with the Bone & Joint Center, 30 medical and surgical staff from Albany Med, Choice Physical Therapy and Thomas Nicolla Physical Therapy to provide free orthopedic surgeries to more than 50 Cuban nationals.
In total, 47 Capital Region healthcare professionals, all members of Operation Walk Albany, worked together over four days, completing 32 knee and 24 hip replacements, and teaching local orthopedic surgeons how to do the same.
Additionally, they taught Cuban anesthesiologists nerve blocks and spinal epidural techniques; nurses pre-operation and floor techniques, such as sterilizations, dressing and medications; and physical therapists gait training, exercises, and post-operative joint precaution.
Operation Walk was founded in 1996. It is a volunteer organization that provides free surgery to patients with no access to care for bone and joint conditions. The organization currently has 18 teams and has served more than 100,000 patients, globally.
For more information, visit www.operationwalk.org.
