Implant sets donation a win for 67

THE lives of 67 Worcester residents will be changed after DePuy Synthes Companies, part of Johnson & Johnson, donated arthroplasty implant sets worth R1.7 million to the orthopaedics department of Worcester Hospital to commemorate Mandela Day tomorrow.

DePuy Synthes offers a comprehensive portfolio of orthopaedic and neuro products and services for joint reconstruction, trauma, spine, sports medicine, neuro, cranio-maxillofacial, power tools and biomaterials.

At the handover of the 67 implant sets yesterday, Worcester Hospital chief executive Elbie Vosloo said although the hospital has a well-functioning orthopaedic department, there was a waiting list of more than 350 patients who required arthroplasty surgery.

This is a surgical procedure to restore the integrity and function of a joint. A joint can be restored by surgically reconstructing or replacing it.

There was a “great need” for this type of surgery and thanks to help from the private sector, the initiative was forged to affect positive change in the lives of the Worcester community.

“With this donation, which comprises of knee and hip replacements, Worcester Hospital will be able to assist an additional 67 recipients at no cost to them, reducing the waiting time by about three months,” he said.

The implant sets will be rolled out during the 2015/2016 financial year, and recipients selected from a current surgery list.

Their selection will be based on international criteria, the health department said.

The surgery, which usually cost about R125 000, would be unaffordable for those affected by unemployment and poverty in the region.

Theodore Franken head of the Orthopaedics Clinical Unit at the hospital, will drive the imple- mentation of the project.

He said apart from the relief of pain for individuals who undergo the surgery, the person could regain functional activity, mobility and an overall improvement to their life.

DePuy Synthes’s sales director, Westley Turnbull, added: “This donation is made in celebration of the late Nelson Mandela’s birthday and serves to emulate his character by serving those in need.

“The Worcester Hospital serves a large geographical area in need of this. Because of Mandela Day… we want to give back to the community.”

He said in just over eight months, the surgeries would be completed in an initiative that resonated with the company’s credo – to care for communities they lived and worked in.

Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo welcomed the donation. “This initiative will change the lives of many.”