PCRF - Orthopedic Surgery

Medical Missions: Orthopedic Surgery

Pediatric Orthopedic Team Treats Kids in Jericho
On May 3rd, a 3-member team arrived in the West Bank town of Jericho to start a week of orthopedic surgery on children through the PCRF. Led by Dr. Marc Sinclair, a German surgeon working in Dubai at the MedCare Hospital, the team screened many children through a visit to Palestine in late March. He also led a mission in November, 2007, to Ramallah Hospital. The team also included Dr. David Sinclair, an anesthesiologist from Germany, and English OR nurse Gillian Beale, who also works at MedCare Hospital in Dubai. The team is treating dozens of children with serious physical deformities that cannot be treated locally due to the lack of services.

French team treats injured patients in Gaza, trains doctors
On March 7, a 5-member team of doctors and nurses from France arrived in the Gaza Strip for a continuation of the training program of local hand surgeons, as well and treating some difficult cases at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. This team has been coming on a regular basis to ensure that the certification of local surgeons in Gaza continues, despite the siege and closure, in an effort to improve the quality of medical care. They also are providing treatment for needy patients. The team included surgeons Prof. Christophe Oberlin, Dr. Olivier Mares and Dr. Sonia Robbins, as well as anesthesiologist Dr. Christophe Denantes and OR nurse Fouzia Yagoubi.

Spine surgeon treats children in Nablus
On February 27, Dr. Tom Bailey, an orthopedic surgeon from the University of Georgia in Augusta, arrived in the West Bank to start a week of scoliosis surgery on children at the Specialist Hospital in Nablus. This is part of the PCRF ongoing project to build a spine surgery program in the West Bank. Dr. Bailey has been on several past missions to Palestine through the PCRF and worked with Dr. Ala' Azmi El Sheikh, who went to the USA 5 years ago for training at the Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles. Another spine mission will be conducted in April as well, as there are dozens of children waiting for this important surgery.

Orthopedic Surgeon Treats Patients in Nablus
On January 24, 2008, Dr. Tim Keenen, an orthopedic surgeon from Perth, Australia, returned to Rafidiah Hospital in Nablus for a week of teaching local surgeons and treating patients in arthroscopic surgery. Dr. Keenen has led several missions to Nablus through the PCRF over the past year and is working hard to train the local surgeons there. Several local doctors are training in this area of work with him.

Spine surgery program continues in Palestine
On December 8, Prof. Hugh Watts, a Canadian-American pediatric orthopedic surgeon who has been working with the PCRF to build a spine surgery program in Palestine for several years, arrived in the West Bank for a two-week training mission to continue to train a local surgeon how to operate on children with scoliosis. For years, Dr. Watts and a number of other international spine surgeons have been working with and training Dr. Ala'a Azmi El Sheikh to treat kids with scoliosis. They are working at the Nablus Specialist Hospital and the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation in Beit Jala.

Pediatric orthopedic mission
treats children in Ramallah
On November 22, a 4-man team of doctors and nurses arrived in the West Bank town of Ramallah to start a week of pediatric orthopedic surgery at the main government hospital there. Led by Dr. Marc Sinclair, a German surgeon working in Dubai, the team included Dr. Mohanned Hamudi from Stony Brook, NY, Dr. Paul Meyers from Iowa and Richard Fowler, an OR nurse from Portland, OR. The team brought tens of thousands of dollars worth of donated medical supplies and treated nearly two dozen children with boney deformities, including several complicated operations.

American spine surgeon works in Nablus
On July 26th, Dr. Richard Gross, an orthopedic surgeon from the University of South Carolina, arrived with a young resident in the West Bank city of Nablus to start a week of spine surgery at the Nablus Specialist Hospital. This is part of an ongoing program in Palestine to address the issue of scoliosis in children, for which there is no local treatment yet available. Working with Dr. Gross was Dr. Ala'a Azmi Al Shiekh, who went to LA in 2003 to train in spine surgery with help from the PCRF. He is a local surgeon who has worked with several visiting spine missions over the past few years. The objective of this program is to build an independent program serving Palestinian children.

Orthopedic Surgeon Arrives in West Bank
On June 3rd, Dr. Charles Johnston, an orthopedic surgeon at the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, Texas arrived in the West Bank town of Beit Jala for a week of spine surgery on scoliosis patients at the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation (BASR). This is his second mission to Palestine through the PCRF. He is working with Dr. Ala'a El Sheikh, a local pediatric orthopedic surgeon training in spine surgery. There are hundreds of kids in Palestine with scoliosis who need surgery. This is the third spine mission sent to Palestine in 2007.

Orthopedic Surgeons Treat Refugees in Lebanon
On April 22, Dr. Sharaf Ibrahim, a Pediatric orthopedic surgeon and Dr. Kamil Mohamad, a hand surgeon, both from Malaysia, arrived in Beirut for a week of orthopedic surgery at Haifa Hospital in the Bourj Al Barajnah refugee camp. Their colleagues worked last week in Damascus treating Palestinian refugees and this is their second mission to Lebanon for the PCRF. Read more about their mission.

PCRF Supports Malaysian-Kuwaiti
Orthopedic Mission to Syria
On April 14, a three-member orthopedic surgery mission from Malaysia and Kuwait were sent to Al-Mujtahed Hospital in Damascus for a week of spine, arthroscopic and hand surgery by two Malaysian and one Kuwaiti surgeons. Dr. Abdul Malik and Dr. Asri Ghapar from Malaysia have worked in the PCRF in the past in Syria, and Dr. Husam Basheer from Kuwait did a mission to Lebanon for the PCRF last year. They screened over 80 children and operated on 17 children, as well as teaching local physicians. Most of the children treated were Palestinian refugees from the camps in Syria.

Spine Surgeon returns to Palestine
for surgery in Bethlehem
On March 24, Dr. Walid Yassir, an assistant professor of pediatric orthopedic surgery at Tufts University in Boston arrived in Palestine with anesthesiologist Dr. Wendy Love from Maine to do scoliosis surgery at the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilation in Beit Jala. Working with local surgeon Dr. Ala'a Al Sheikh, who trained at the Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles in Spine surgery in 2004, they continued to provide expert spine surgery on children born with spinal deformities. This is Dr. Yassir's 4th mission to Palestine through the PCRF over the past few years.

New Project to Treat Children in Palestine
On April 6, the PCRF launched a new initiative in the Jenin and Tulkarem areas to provide surgery for children with burns and orthopedic disorders. These are children who can be treated by local surgeons at Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, but who lack the resources to get this care locally. Working with surgeons Dr. Hisham Ammous, a plastic surgeon, and Dr. Rustom Nammeri, an orthopedic surgeon, the PCRF is screening children in the north, and then will cover their surgery costs and administrative logistical support to get them the care that they need. There are hundreds of burned and other injured or disabled children in the northern West Bank in need of care. The PCRF is arranging their care through surgery missions by volunteer teams, but there are still many other kids in need of such care.

American Spine Surgeon Treats Children in West Bank
On February 4th, Dr. Thomas Bailey, a professor in Orthopedic surgery from the Medical College of Georgia, arrived in the West Bank for a week of scoliosis surgery at the Bethlehem Arab Center for Rehabilitation in Beit Jala. This is Dr. Bailey's second mission to Palestine through the PCRF, as he went in March 2006 as well. This is part of an ongoing PCRF program to build a pediatric spine surgery program in Palestine.

Orthopedic Missions works in Nablus
On February 5th, a 2-man team arrived in Nablus to start a week of orthopedic surgery on poor and needy children. Dr. Tim Keenan, a surgeon from Australia, and Dr. Paul Meyer, an anesthesiologist from the USA, have both volunteered before in Palestine. They are working at Rafidiah Hospital in Nablus treating children with orthopedic disorders.

LA Orthopedic Surgeon Returns to Palestine
On Friday, October 26, Professor Hugh Watts of UCLA arrived in the West Bank for two weeks of screening chidlren with orthopedic disorders, as well as continuning the training of local spine surgeons and building a local program in pediatric orthopedic surgery in Palestine. Dr. Watts has
worked for the PCRF over the past several years and led several missions to Palestine. He serves on the PCRF Medical Advisory Board and also has arranged free care for several Palestinain children in the USA. He has held screening clinics in Jenin, Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron and Bethlehem, on this mission, as well as surgery for children with scoliosis in Beit Jala.

French Surgery Mission Arrives in Jenin
On July 1, 2006 a French orthopedic surgery mission was sent by the PCRF to Jenin, after they were refused entry into the besieged Gaza Strip. Led by Professor Christophe Oberlin from Paris, the team has been training surgeons in the southern Gaza Strip in microsurgery for the past several years. The recent effort to go into Gaza was to continue the training of local surgeons in such surgery. After they were denied entry into Gaza, they were sent to Jenin Hospital, where they did a week of surgery and screening on patients. The same team was sent to Palestine in March of 2006 by the PCRF.

Boston Orthopedic Surgeon returns to Palestine
On June 9, 2006, Dr. Walid Yassir, an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Orthopedics at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston arrived in the West Bank town of Beit Jala for a week of intensive spine surgery on Palestinian children with birth defects. Working at the Bethlehem Arab Society of Rehabilitation, he did a week of surgery on children and furthered the PCRF training program for local surgeon, Dr. Ala'a Al Sheikh. This was part of our effort to build a local program in spine surgery for children with scoliosis in Palestine. Currently, there are no local doctors treating children with spinal cord deformities in Palestine. This was Dr. Walid's third mission to Palestine through the PCRF since 2004.

Orthopedic Surgery Mission Goes to Palestine
On November 9, 2005, two American orthopedic surgeons went to Ramallah for two weeks of pediatric surgery on children with orthopedic deformities. Dr. Hugh Watts, the former chief of staff of the Shriners Hospital in LA, and Dr. Joseph Holh, a surgeon in northern California. Both have worked in Palestine through the PCRF in the past. Dr. Holh was volunteering at Ramallah Hospital, while Dr. Watts helped train spine surgeons at Makassed Hospital and in Rafidiah Hospital in Nablus.

Malaysian Orthopedic Mission Goes to Lebanon and Syria
On August 30th, 2005, the Malaysian Orthopaedic Association (MOA) colloborated with the PCRF to treat Palestinian refugees with orthopedic disorders. The MOA worked for 5 days and provided surgery for a dozen of patients. Read more about this mission.

Texas Orthopedic Surgeon Performs Surgery in Jerusalem
On July 1st- 7th, 2005, Dr. Charles Johnston from Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Texas went to Palestine to perform a week of orthopedic surgery in Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem. This was Dr. Johnston's first mission to Palestine through the PCRF. During his mission, Dr. Johnston worked with local orthopedic surgeon Dr. Ala'a El Sheikh to perform 5 complex surgeries on children with spinal deformities. Dr. Johnston's mission was part of our ongoing effort to train orthopedic surgeons in spinal surgery. View cases treated

Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon treats children in Palestine
On June 11th, 2005, Professor Walid Yasser from Tufts University Hospital in Boston traveled to Palestine to treat children with scolosis, as well as to help train local surgeons. This was Dr. Yassir's second trip to Palestine through the PCRF. In 2004, he went to Gaza and has worked with Dr. Ala'a Al Sheikh, who was trained in 2003 at the Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles, partially through PCRF sponsorship. Dr. Yasser screened children in Ramallah on June 12th, and operated with Dr. Al Sheikh in Makassed, providing spine surgery on May Hammad from Nablus. This mission was part of a comprehensive effort by the PCRF, in cooperation with Makassed Hospital, to build a pediatric orthopedic surgery program in Palestine. This mission was under the leadership of Dr. Hugh Watts, a member of the PCRF medical advisory board and a well-known and respected leader in pediatric orthopedic surgery. Several more missions in this area will ensue in 2005, including a trip by Dr. Charles Johnson at the end of June.

Orthopedic Surgeon Provides Training for Doctors in Palestine
On January 29th, 2005, Professor Hugh Watts from USC, UCLA and the LA Shriners Hospital traveled to Palestine for a two-week mission in training local orthopedic surgeons at Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem. Dr. Watts is part of the PCRF medical advisory board and has been to the Middle East through the PCRF several times over the past few years. This was part of an ongoing mission to train local orthopedic surgeons in pediatric spine surgery, and also to treat some difficult cases. He worked with Dr. Rustom Nammeri, the head of orthopedics at Makassed, and Dr. Ala'a El Sheikh, who trained under Dr. Watts through PCRF support in LA in 2003.

Two American Orthopedic Surgeons Work in Palestine
In late September, 2004. Dr. Hugh Watts and Dr. Joseph Hohl, both pediatric orthopedic surgeons from California specializing in spinal surgery, traveled to Palestine through the PCRF for a two-week mission in training local surgeons and treating patients. They worked the first week in Ramallah Hospital and the second in the Gaza Strip. This was part of the PCRF's effort to provide training for local Palestinian orthopedic surgeons, in particular Dr. Alaá El SHeikh from Gaza, who spent a year in Los Angeles training last year through the Shriners Hospital.

American-Palestinian Orthopedic Surgeon Goes to Gaza
On May 9th, 2004, Dr. Walid Yassir, Assistant Professor of Pediatric Orthopedics at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, traveled to Gaza City for a week of spine surgery at Al Quds Hospital in Gaza City. Dr. Yassir took with him tens of thousands of dollars worth of donated surgery equipment to enable him to do spine surgery on children with congenital deformities. He worked with Dr. Ala' El Sheikh, who went to Los Angeles for a fellowship in 2003, partly through the PCRF, for training in spine surgery. This was part of an ongoing program to create a scoliosis program in Palestine for children born with deformities that otherwise would go untreated.

American Orthopedic Team Treats Refugees in Lebanon
On April 13, 2004, a 7-member team of doctors and nurses from Chicago traveled to Beirut for a week of orthopedic surgery on refugee children at Haifa Hospital in the Bourj Al Barajnah refugee camp. Led by Dr. Kamal Ibrahim, the team specialized in spine and scoliosis surgery, but also treated many other children with orthopedic disorders who cannot be treated locally due to the lack of specialists.

American Orthopedic Surgeon Performs Surgery in Gaza, Nablus Including Palestine's First Spine Fusion Surgery
On February 14th, 2004, Dr. Hugh Watts, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and former chief of staff of the Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles, did the first spine fusion on a scoliosis patient in the Gaza Strip. Working with Dr. Ala' Al Sheikh, who trained at the LA Shriners all of 2003, partly through PCRF support, they fused the child's spine at the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City. Dr. Watts also brought tens of thousands of dollars of donated medical supplies through the PCRF to Palestine.

On February 21, Dr. Watts traveled north to the West Bank town of Nablus to work in the Arab Specialized Hospital in Nablus. Working again with Dr. Ala' Al Sheikh, Dr. Watts was able to perform a dozen spine surgeries for needy refugee children, while also screening nearly 100 children for future surgical missions.

The PCRF Sends US Surgeon to Jericho
On February 21, 2004, the PCRF sent orthopedic surgeon Dr. Geri Fothi and nurse Huda Jafer to Jericho to perform complex spine surgery for patients with sciolosis. This was the first mission to Palestine for the team, who worked for one week in Jericho Hospital. The team performed surgery for a dozen children, who otherwise would not have found treatment locally.

2-Member Pediatric Team Screens Cases in Nablus
On February 14th, 2004, The PCRF brought Philadelphian Orthopedic Doctors Nader Hebela and Joe Turk to the West Bank town of Nablus to perform expert medical screening for patients with scioliosis and other orthopedic problems. Working for one week, the team screened dozens of cases for the upcoming surgical missions to Nablus and Jericho.

Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon Visits West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon
Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery is a major problem in the Middle East. In Palestine, there is a great need to provide such a specialized service, especially with the high number of children injured by IDF gunfire and shells. In 2001, the PCRF responded to this crisis by sending a well known pediatric orthopedic surgeon from the US to the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon to do an evaluation of the orthopedic needs there, as well as to provide some treatment of children in the refugee camps in Lebanon.

The last week of June, Dr. Hugh Watts, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon from Los Angeles and the former chief of staff at the Shriners Hospital there, toured hospitals in Palestine and Lebanon. There he saw many sick and injured Arab children in need of surgery. He also evaluated the needs in pediatric orthopedic surgery in the region. In Lebanon, Dr. Watts participated in orthopedic surgery procedures and provided an evaluation report to the PCRF on the long-term needs for improving the quality of pediatric orthopedic care in the region. Dr. Watts is continually helping us in our efforts as a member of The PCRF's Medical Advisory Board. The PCRF is also working with other orthopedic surgeons and organizations to try to improve the quality of pediatric orthopedic care in Palestine and the Middle East.