Providing Two Free Total Hip Replacement Surgeries for Needy Patients

On November 30th and December 1st, two Carteret County residents will receive free orthopedic surgery as part of Operation Walk USA. All aspects of treatment – surgery, hospitalization, and pre-and post-operative care – are provided at no cost to the patients.
Together Orthopedic surgeons Dr. Robert Coles and Dr. Thomas Bates will be leading the Carteret team involved with this project that is giving back to our community during the start of the holiday season. Dr. Coles will perform a total hip replacement on a male patient and Dr. Thomas Bates will provide a total hip replacement on a female patient as part of Operation Walk USA. Both patients are from Morehead City and this is the third year in which Carolinas Center for Surgery and Carteret Health Care have participated.

“It is our honor and privilege to be able to help people regain their mobility,” said Dr. Coles. “I am proud to lead the local effort again which unites our medical community for the benefit of patients. These patients can look forward to having relief from pain so they can enjoy spending time with their family and friends.”

Together, Carteret Health Care and Carolinas Center for Surgery are donating physician fees and hospital services at no cost to the patients. Stryker has donated the surgical hip implants. Carteret Health Care Rehabilitation Services will be donating rehabilitation services for patients and the Pharmacy will be donating all post-operative pain medication required. Anesthesia services are provided by Mosaic and radiology professional services are donated by Eastern Radiology.

Currently, in its sixth year, Operation Walk USA, an independent medical charitable organization, provides all aspects of knee and hip replacement treatment at no cost to patients who may not qualify for government assistance, have insurance or afford surgery on their own. This year, an estimated 85 orthopedic surgeons will provide hip and joint replacements, free of charge, to 120 patients.
While more than one million hip and knee replacements are performed in the U.S., each year, countless men and women continue to live with severe arthritic pain and immobility because they cannot afford joint replacement surgery.

“The most common cause of disability is arthritic disease and Carteret Health Care is pleased that these two individuals will not have to suffer anymore.” says Cindy Jones, Vice President Patient Care Services. “With the start of the holiday month, the surgeries are a timely way for the hospital and the orthopedic surgeons to give back to the community and help patients improve their quality of life and mobility”

Arthritic disease is the most common cause of disability in the nation, affecting approximately 46 million Americans, or more than 21 percent of the adult population. The debilitating pain of end-stage hip or knee degenerative disease often makes working, or completing even the simplest of daily tasks, excruciatingly painful or impossible. Hip or knee replacement surgeries are the most-effective and successful of all orthopedic procedures, eliminating pain and allowing patients to resume active, productive lives.