When Operation Smile team members from Jefferson assisted in the opening of a new clinic in Mombassa, Kenya, last summer, it marked another giant step by the volunteer organization in making health care available to citizens of the African nation.
In addition, hospitals in Nakuru and Kisumu were given two ventilators valued at more than $60,000. This was made possible by the generosity of the Wilmington, Delaware, chapter and in cooperation with the Medical Center of Delaware and the duPont Hospital for Children.
(Jefferson Operation Smile
volunteers on Kenya Mission '96,
from left, Michael Houdek,
Associate Clinical Engineer/
Supervisor, Biomedical
Instrumentation; Valerie A.
Arkoosh, MD, Assistant Professor
of Anesthesiology, Jefferson
Medical College; Errol O. Nugent,
Biomedical Equipment Specialist;
Mrs. Robert (Vicki) Peterson, member of the TJUH Women's Board; and Robert A.
Peterson, Vice President for Development.)
Now in its 10th year in Kenya, Operation Smile has provided care there for 2,000 children. In addition, hundreds of hours of education and training for local healthcare professionals have been shared.
On Kenya Mission '96 alone, a total of 370 surgical procedures were done by the international team of doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals and non-medical volunteers at four sites, including Nairobi.