Making Strides: JDC's Hip Fracture Program, Update September 2003

Hip fracture is a relatively common occurrence among Jewish elderly in the FSU, and unfortunately so is the lack of financial resources to undergo rehabilitative surgery.

In Kiev, for example, there were approximately 50 hip fractures per year in 2001 and 2002. In the majority of cases, patients could not afford orthopedic care and became permanently bedridden, no longer able to participate in the normal activities of daily living. They currently represent a significant segment of the Hesed patients requiring extensive home care.

Responding to this need, JDC launched a Hip Fracture Project at the end of 2002. Between November of that year and June 2003, there were 39 hip fracture patients among the clients at a Hesed in Kiev. During this period, nearly one third were operated on as beneficiaries of the JDC initiative.

The project was launched after a visit to the FSU from Dr. David Osteen, an orthopedic surgeon from Orlando, Florida. Through on-site investigation of the major hospitals in Kiev, Odessa, and Vinnitsa, Dr. Osteen evaluated the quality of orthopedic care available in these communities. Based on his positive assessment and similar findings by JDC Board Member, Dr. Theodore Myers, it was recommended that appropriate treatment be offered to all eligible Hesed clients. JDC thus initiated the project in Kiev to provide surgical care for hip fracture patients who were otherwise unable to pay for the procedure.

Those who benefited from the Hip Fracture Project are grateful for restored mobility, independence, and dignity. "I am thrilled to have had the surgery," says Mr. Z., one of the Hesed patients. "I feel deeply indebted to the JDC for making this possible."

Given the success of the Hip Fracture Project in Kiev, the JDC plans to expand it to other areas of the FSU.

Dr. Myers and others have since met with Dr. Valentin Serdyuk, Director of Orthopedics at Odessa State Medical University and Dr. Petro Zhuk, Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at the Vinnitsa Institute of Traumatology, regarding their future involvement in the project.

Dr. Zhuk, noted for his compassion and dedication to the field, also has the distinction of being a Jewish orthopedic surgeon, of which there are few if any others in the former Soviet Union.

To bolster the program, Dr. Osteen has donated sets of top-notch orthopedic instruments to the JDC. The instruments will be given as gifts to the Ukrainian hospitals involved in the Hip Fracture Project.