The company is The Orthopaedic Implant Company (OIC) and this is it’s CEO, Itai Nemovicher describing a life changing event when he accompanied Chicago-based One World Surgery on an orthopedic surgery charity trip to Honduras.
“Frankly, I had been taking the U.S. healthcare system for granted. When I saw a 5-year-old girl who had been walking on a broken tibia for a year I knew we had to help her and others in similar dire situations.”
“If this child could walk on a broken leg for a year certainly my company could do something to be part of the solution. This child—and other patients who must jump through incredible hoops to access care—display true GRIT every day…and they do so without complaining. My last memory before I returned to the U.S. was of a man crying with joy after surgery…at that point I knew that giving had to be one of OIC’s core values.”
The OIC Story and a Call for all Suppliers to Also Contribute
If an orthopedic surgeon in the U.S. had to intraoperatively cut down screws to the correct length, there would be hell to pay. In some countries, however, this is what surgeons must do in order to operate.
Itai Nemovicher, CEO and founder of The Orthopaedic Implant Company (OIC) doesn’t want surgeons anywhere to have to compromise on patient health. Determined to make implants more affordable, the Reno, Nevada-based company has donated implants worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and partnered with organizations and surgeons to advance orthopedic care in underserved nations. “For example, when we decided to divest our spine portfolio five years ago,” said Nemovicher to OTW, “we donated all our spine instruments and implants—over half a million dollars’ worth—to SIGN Fracture Care in Portland.”
But Nemovicher wanted to do more. The company began donating overstock inventory to Chicago-based One World Surgery for their work in Honduras, and sent implant sets to Scalpel at the Cross, a surgical care ministry that is based in Minneapolis and works in Peru.
Moving forward, they established an ongoing relationship with One World Surgery, an organization that funds and operates the Holy Family Surgery Center on the property of their partner, the children’s home, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos. “We were impressed with their sophisticated organization,” says Nemovicher, “an effort that includes an orphanage on 2,000 acres with nearly 3,000 children.”
The initial surgery Nemovicher witnessed in Honduras was a semi-extended tibial nailing case. “This is a technique that has been available in the U.S. market for over ten years, but they didn’t have the necessary equipment.”
OIC now partners with One World Surgery primarily for trauma indications, says Nemovicher. “We are thrilled to be in a position to aid children and adults who have injuries and deformities and orthopaedic pathology that would not otherwise be treated. In the U.S., people would receive treatment for these issues—typically malunions—at an earlier stage. But in Honduras, some of the nonunions we see are several years out. This is in part because people so often have to drive five hours or more to even be seen by a doctor, let alone have these procedures done.”
Less “Friction” for Surgeons
“Until now, local orthopaedic surgeons had little choice as far as implants and would often have to spend time—while the patient is under anesthesia no less—cutting down screws to get the correct length. I don’t want surgeons having to ask, ‘Do I even have the screws that are compatible with these plates?’”
Ultimately, says Nemovicher, OIC hopes to help build out the orthopedic infrastructure in Honduras. “There are surgeons who have traveled to work with Honduran orthopedic surgeons. Not only do the Hondurans learn from the Americans, but it definitely goes in the other direction as the American surgeons are working on injuries they don’t typically see in the U.S.”
“Honduran medical education is different than it is in the U.S., with trainees going straight into an eight-year program right out of high school. Their learning will be facilitated by the orthopaedic fellowship that is just now getting underway at the Holy Family Surgery Center. The hands-on-learning will be increasingly formalized as they go forward.”
The goal of OIC, says Nemovicher, is to be able to send one of their employees to Honduras once per quarter. “It is an honor to participate in the life-changing surgeries and education that will forever alter patients’ lives.”
As an example of the power of education, Itai Nemovicher points to Dr. Merlin Omar Antúnez, an orthopaedic surgeon and the on-site Medical Director of the Holy Family Surgery Center.
Dr. Antúnez, who himself grew up on the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos ranch, has been working at the Holy Family Surgery Center since 2014. Asked about the significance of the work he and his team do, Dr. Antúnez told OTW, “Holy Family Surgery Center is a state-of-the-art surgery center that offers surgical and primary care for free to poor patients in Honduras. We are the last hope for so many Honduran patients. We have elective cases and eight different specialties mostly run by missions all year round. Currently, ophthalmology and orthopaedics are the specialties that have local physicians that can work with or without missions.”
And, says Dr. Antúnez, they attempt to follow the same standards found at any ambulatory surgery center in the United States. Indeed, their complication rate is less than 1%.
Lead Through Service
“There are things that make us unique from other surgery centers in general. We have a team in the United States trying to recruit new healthcare providers and funding our operations. We do have a local team doing the follow-up for all our surgical patients and trying to find real solutions for the patients seeking help. But the one thing our patients are most amazed with is the way our staff takes care of them—our satisfaction rate is 99%. We want every participant to be touched and feel a change while serving and being served.”
We asked Dr. Antúnez the organization’s goals. He said, “I have seen steady growth since I started in 2014. We would like to continue growing, improving, and being the best in what we do in a consistent and sustainable fashion. This includes having enough personnel, supplies, and implants. Currently, we are in the process of expanding our primary care clinic, our microbiology laboratory, and establishing the first orthopaedic fellowship for the country.”
“Holy Family Surgery Center and One World Surgery have worked really hard over the years to cultivate a culture of service in our community. If you have been looking for a place to remind you about real vocation to serve others, then we are the place you have been looking for. Our patients are steadfast after enduring so much suffering over the years, and they are also grateful for the existence of our mission.”
You can donate to the Holy Family Surgery Center and One World Surgery, to further this mission.
