2019 Mission

CAMTA  completed our seventeenth successful Mission in Quito! Over those 17 years, we have changed the lives of over 1165 Ecuadorians through orthopedic surgery. This year almost 100 volunteers from all over Canada changed the lives of 35 adults and 28 children with desperately needed orthopedic surgeries. Three of the adults and sixteen children had more than one surgery. 

We got a lot of attention on social media with this post! When the power to the hospital elevator failed, Family Physician Ryan Wright provided unique transportation  to the OR for an 87 year old patient.

Sylvie Bedard, the new Canadian Ambassador to Ecuador came by the hospital today to see what CAMTA is doing here in Quito. Donning scrubs, Ambassador Bedard stopped in on both surgeries that were taking place, amazed by the resources CAMTA brings to the operating rooms, including monitors, surgical equipment, prostheses and the amazing skill sets of our team.

Physiotherapists, Barb Furler, Raj Dhillon, and Vera Milligan, visited the physiotherapists at the “Centro Medico Tierra Nueva”. The group discussed treatment of patients post op, and how the treatment differs between Ecuador and Canada.

When Dustin Rendon came to CAMTA with a club foot 17 years ago, Dr. Marc Moreau performed surgery on the young boy. Today Dustin and his twin brother, Damon, volunteer with CAMTA as translators for the team.

CAMTA hosted the 5th Annual Orthopedic Meeting. There, CAMTA physicians presented on a variety of topics to the Orthopedic Surgery residents from the hospital.

Dr. Wesner started off presenting about non-surgical management of Osteoarthritis.

She was followed by Dr. Secretan, who spoke about the life of a Rural Orthopod. His very interactive case-based presentation was extremely well received by the local residents, who were eager to engage in discussion about challenging hip replacements.

Next, Dr. Stampe spoke about scoliosis and its management. This included a lot of new information on operations beyond what CAMTA does during their missions, as well as beyond what is normally done in Ecuador for children with scoliosis. As a result, the residents had a lot of interesting questions!

Dr.  Wesner also spearheaded a project to expand CAMTA’s work beyond the OR and work towards improved non-surgical community management of orthopedic conditions. With the help of physiotherapist Joanne Montgomery and translator Marita Echaiz-Eguren, Dr. Wesner gave a presentation to 35 patients and community health nurses at the hospital about non-surgical management of Osteoarthritis (OA).

Name	Role
Alastair Hodgson	Lay Person
Alessandra Gessner	Physician – Family Practice
Alicia Kerrigan	Resident – Orthopedics
Aline Pourbaix Young	Administration
Alyssa Wilkie	RN – Operating Room – Pediatric
Amanda Heikel	RN – Operating Room – Adult
Amy Wilkie	Lay Person
Andres Tenias	Translator
Angela Neufeld	Physician – Anesthesiologist – Adult
April Zhiwei Gu	RN – Ward – Adult
Ashlee Dobbe	Physician – Orthopedic Surgeon – Pediatric
Ashley Benoit	RN – Operating Room – Adult
Barb Moreau	Administration
Barbara-Lynne Furler	Physiotherapist
Beverly Runka	RN – Recovery Room – Pediatric
Bonnie Cluney	Lay Person
Brenda Wright	RN – Ward – Adult
Caitlin Marchak	Student – Medical
Charles Secretan	Physician – Orthopedic Surgeon – Adult
Charles Bouchard	Resident – Orthopedics
Cheryl Holt	RN – Operating Room – Adult
Christa Hoefling	Lay Person
Christina Paquin	RN – Recovery Room – Pediatric
Colleen Weeks	Physician – Orthopedic Surgeon – Adult
Cristobal (Chris) Espinel	Translator
Danielle Becker	RN – Ward – Adult
Darrel Comeau	Communications – Mission Blogger
Deb Chalupa	RN – Ward – Adult
Deborah Mears	Lay Person
Denise Raman-Nair	RN – Recovery Room – Pediatric
Douglas Hill	Information Technologist/Patient Admitting Clerk
Ellen Coristine	O.R. Technician
Erica Graves	RN – Ward – Adult
Francisco Gallardo	Translator
Grant Auer	Respiratory Therapist
Greg Zinter	Information Technologist/Patient Admitting Clerk
Heather Jackman	Physician – Orthopedic Surgeon – Pediatric
Helene Locas	RN – Operating Room – Pediatric
Hermes Gordon	Translator
Indrani Lakheeram	Physician – Anesthesiologist – Pediatric
Ivan Kamikovski	Resident – Orthopedics
Jackie Wiebe	Administration
Jay Valencia	Translator
Joanne Brown	RN – Ward – Pediatric
Joanne Montgomery	Physiotherapist
Jodi LindalJackson	Licensed Practical Nurse
Julia Sawatzky	Communications – Mission Blogger
Karen Calhoun	Lay Person
Kathy Bonitz	RN – Operating Room – Adult
Katie Marriott	RN – Operating Room – Pediatric
Kevin Gregg	Physician – Anesthesiologist – Adult
Khaled Almansoori	Physician – Orthopedic Surgeon – Pediatric
Kristen Redhead	Physiotherapist
Kyle Stampe	Physician – Orthopedic Surgeon – Pediatric
Lindsay Brouwer	RN – Operating Room – Pediatric
Madison Amyotte	Student – Nursing
Madison Lakey	RN – Operating Room – Adult
Mairi Gordon	RN – Recovery Room – Adult
Marc Moreau	Physician – Orthopedic Surgeon – Pediatric
Maria Echaiz-Eguren	Translator
Marina Francis	RN – Operating Room – Pediatric
Marni Wesner	Physician – Family Practice
Martha Valencia	Translator
Mary Klute	RN – Ward – Pediatric
Meaghan Cooper	RN – Recovery Room – Adult
Megan Ewasuk	Lay Person
Michael Goplen	Resident – Orthopedics
Michele Vincent	Lay Person
Micheline Allin	RN – Operating Room – Adult
Michelle Lord	RN – Operating Room – Adult
Natalie Buu	Physician – Anesthesiologist – Pediatric
Natalie Mack	Student – General
Neethling van den Heever	Physician – Anesthesiologist – Adult
Pauline Worsfold	RN – Recovery Room – Adult
Paulose Paul	Physician – Orthopedic Surgeon – Adult
Peggy Prodor	Lay Person
Peter Ratcliff	Lay Person
Rachael Cheechoo	Lay Person
Rachel Oates	Physiotherapist
Raj Dhillon	Physiotherapist
Rayanne Hillier	RN – Operating Room – Adult
Ricardo Rodas	RN – Operating Room – Adult
Rolando Islas	Translator
Ryan Wright	Physician – Family Practice
Sandra Muchekeza	Lay Person
Sarah Lockhart	RN – Ward – Pediatric
Scott Buchanan	Respiratory Therapist
Shinner Hsu	RN – Ward – Adult
Surita Sidhu	Physician – Anesthesiologist – Adult
Tegan McGraw	RN – Ward – Pediatric
Timothy Smith	Translator
Timothy Kostamo	Physician – Orthopedic Surgeon – Adult
Vera Milligan	Physiotherapist
Victor Eguren-Echaiz	Translator
Yvonne Sawchyn	Lay Person