Final Preparations Underway

The Operation Walk Boston team is now in the final phase of preparations for their 2011 trip to the Dominican Republic. The last organizational meetings are taking place and 26 pallets of supplies (including 532 boxes and an anesthesia machine) have now been shipped to our host site, the Hospital General Plaza de la Salud in Santo Domingo. There it will await the team's arrival on March 23rd. The Op Walk mission depends on the generous donation of supplies from our many partner organizations, including: the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cardinal Health, Stryker Artizan Health, AmeriCare, DePuy and others.

Below some photos give an idea of shear quantity of supplies necessary for a mission of this scale:


The mission aims to provide 62 total joint replacements to 47 patients. All patients have been thoroughly screened by a multidisciplinary team made up of surgeons, anesthesiologists, and medical specialists both here and in the Dominican Republic.

Op Walk Fundraiser a Rousing Success!

Operation Walk supporters showed up in droves to rock to the Newgrass stylings of local band, Gone to Seed last Friday night at the Bella Luna Restaurant/Milky Way lounge in Jamaica Plain. The event was a fundraiser for Op Walk's March 23rd, 2011 mission to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. More than 150 people made it out to the event, which featured Op Walk physician, Dr. Jeremy Smith as one of the bandmembers. By all accounts, they put on an incredible performance.

Many thanks to Gone to Seed and all of the volunteers who put on a great show Friday, and to the many supporters whose contributions have helped to make the this years trip happen! We couldn't do it without you.

We are now just over a month away from departure, so stay tuned for more pre-trip updates...