Kaiser Permanente MDs, nurses give free surgeries.

Efrain Santos of Gilroy, California, said he felt a little nervous, but he was happy to have this access to free, high quality medical care. The 31-year-ol laborer was laying on a pre-op gurney in the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center’s ambulatory surgery unit, speaking in Spanish with the medical center’s Senior Vice President Irene Chavez.
“Efrain used the word ‘content’, and so am I,” said Chavez. “I’m so proud of my doctors and nurses who are volunteering their time to provide surgical care for the area’s uninsured.”
More than 40 Kaiser Permanente physicians, surgical nurses, and staff spent their Saturday providing free ambulatory surgery for 15 uninsured residents of the Silicon Valley. The Kaiser Permanente caregivers were working in cooperation with a number of community clinics, and a group called “Operation Access”, which was co-founded many years ago by Dr. Douglas Grey.
“I was working at Kaiser Permanente 20 years ago and I realized that the operating rooms were always empty on Saturday,” explains Dr. Grey. “I started talking with other doctors and the seeds of free surgeries for needy community members were born.”
Over the years, 1400 doctors and nurses and staff have volunteered in the Saturday Surgery Sessions for Operation Access around the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of the sessions have taken place at Kaiser Permanente medic al centers.
But Efrain Santos surgery…and that of 14 others….was somewhat special: It was the first one in Santa Clara County, the home of the Silicon Valley. And it not only provided the patients with life-changing p medical procedures, but it also gave the volunteer doctors and nurses an inspirational boost.
“This brings out the best in people,” said Dr. Grey.
Kaiser Permanente San Jose’s surgical chief, Dr. Efren Rosas, echoed those sentiments.
“People are just so wanting to be part of this”, says Dr Rosas. “We had ‘way more volunteers than we needed. A lot of Kaiser Permanente docs travel to foreign countries to provide medical help: with Operation Access, they can do good right here at home.”
The patients were identified by several community health organizations, like the Silicon Valley Gardner Clinics, which don’t have the facilities to provide this level of care. Instead, their patients, most barely above the poverty level or undocumented go onto long waiting lists at so-called safety net hospitals. During their wait, their health deteriorates.
“We’re doing hernia repairs, cataract procedures, and colonoscopies,” says Dr. Rosas. “Afterwards, the patients will be able to see better, do their work better, feel better.”
All of the procedures went well, there were no complications. The doctors, nurses and staff worked as a high-functioning team, starting shortly after eight in the morning. All of the patients were in the recovery area by 11am. Though still groggy, there were generally smiles all around.
Efrain Santos was still asleep but his girlfriend waiting close by was tearful with gratitude.
Irene Chavez said it best: “Opening our hearts to the community is part of Kaiser Permanente’s DNA.”