Arthritic disease is the most common cause of disability in the United States and now affects 46 million Americans, or more than 21 percent of the adult population. The debilitating pain of end stage hip or knee degenerative disease makes even the most simple of daily tasks excruciating. Hip and knee replacement surgeries are the most cost-effective and successful of all orthopedic procedures, eliminating pain and restoring patients to active, productive lives. Unfortunately, these surgeries are expensive, and out of reach for the many of our under- or uninsured suffering neighbors. Operation Walk USA is a medical humanitarian organization that provides free hip or knee replacement surgeries for these patients. Operation Walk USA targets patients – US citizens or permanent residents – who do not qualify for government assistance programs, the working poor. Harnessing a national network of volunteer hospitals, physicians, nurses, physical therapists and others, Operation Walk USA is committed to helping those in need by restoring their mobility, self dignity, productivity, and helping them return to their social world.
Operation Walk USA – 2012 will take place on December 7, 2012!
The Hip Society, The Knee Society, and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), with support and participation of Operation Walk (International), are partnering to provide pro bono total joint replacement surgeries to patients across the United States who would otherwise be unable to receive appropriate and much needed surgical care due to financial circumstances. In a concerted effort named Operation Walk USA, some of the country's top joint replacement surgeons will perform these procedures at their home hospitals on Friday, December 7, 2012.
The mission of Operation Walk USA is to give a new lease on life to uninsured or poverty-stricken patients in the United States who have painful and debilitating joint diseases and no other treatment options.
If you are a patient, or know of someone who might benefit from Operation Walk USA, learn more here.
Thank you to the following companies who generously donated implant devices for patients for Operation Walk USA 2011:
Biomet
DePuy
Mako Surgical
Smith & Nephew
Stryker
Total Joint Orthopedics, Inc.
Wright Medical Technology
Zimmer
We appreciate the support of our industry partners!
Operation Walk USA drew
its inspiration from Operation
Walk (International), a private, not-for-profit, volunteer medical services organization that provides free surgical treatment for patients in developing countries, who otherwise have no access to life-improving care for arthritis or other debilitating bone and joint conditions. We are now working together to bring hope for a fuller, healthier, pain-free life to patients in the United States.
