SAINT FRANCIS MEDICAL TEAM PERFORMS 100 SURGERIES FOR AILING VILLAGERS OF RIO SAN JUAN IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC A Week-Long, Voluntary Mission to Help Heal the Sick
07/30/2007
(Hartford, CT) - Dr. Ibrahim Daoud, Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, has brought the miracles of surgery to poor regions of the world for the past six years. His most recent mission brought him and his team to Rio San Juan, located in the Northern Coastal Region in the Dominican Republic. Here, they set up a temporary hospital and performed nearly 100 surgeries for local villagers in a five-day period.
Using supplies donated by Saint Francis, drug companies, and equipment manufacturers, Dr. Daoud and a 30-member crew of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and technicians performed such procedures as thyroid surgeries, gallbladder surgeries, hernia repairs, gynecological procedures, and mastectomies.
The lack of accessibility to medical care is astounding in this blighted region. We treated a woman with breast cancer by performing a mastectomy. It was difficult leaving someone like her behind knowing she will not have the opportunity to undergo the chemo-therapy and radiation treatment she so desperately needs. I will be going back in November to the same village to follow up on her condition,� said Dr. Daoud, who defined this mission as a �bittersweet experience. To the dozens of others we treated, it is gratifying to know that your actions can improve the quality of life for so many in need,� added Daoud.
It is often easy to take for granted the healthcare system available here in the United States because it is so accessible. We are fortunate to have physicians like Dr. Daoud and his dedicated team donate their skills and services to make a difference in the lives of those who suffer across the world,� said Christopher Dadlez, President and CEO, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center.
Dr. Daoud and his team donate their time and pay their own travel expenses to fly to impoverished regions, where they offer free medical care to the sick twice a year. They plan to return to Rio, San Juan from November 3-10.
Founded in 1897, Saint Francis is a major teaching hospital licensed for 617 acute inpatient beds and 65 bassinets and is the largest Catholic hospital in New England.
