64. Behind the Scenes of World Pediatrics: Partnerships that Matter

How can we advance global pediatric care to reach children in the most underserved regions?

This episode tackles that pressing question while highlighting the vital role of partnerships in overcoming healthcare challenges. We dive into the transformative work of World Pediatrics, which is dedicated to ensuring that children in low-resource areas receive essential medical care. With insights from Andrea Ahonen, Mallory Trusty, and Kate Corbett, we explore significant changes within the organization, including their recent rebranding efforts and a shift towards empowering local healthcare systems. Their focus on holistic care not only addresses immediate medical needs but also fosters sustainable healthcare solutions for the future.

Takeaways:

• The global pediatric care landscape requires innovative solutions to overcome barriers in underserved regions.
• World Pediatrics emphasizes partnerships that enhance healthcare systems while increasing local capacity for pediatric care.
• Transforming pediatric healthcare involves not just treating patients but empowering local providers through training and resources.
• The rebranding of World Pediatrics reflects their commitment to long-term sustainable healthcare solutions, not just temporary projects.
• Stories like Tahjana's highlight the critical need for urgent surgical interventions in low-resource settings.
• Orthopediatrics' partnership with World Pediatrics illustrates the importance of collaboration in providing comprehensive care for children globally.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• World Pediatrics
• Orthopediatrics
• Nemours Children's Hospital
• Doctors Without Borders
• Shriners Children's Hospital

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Episode Transcript

(00:02):
How can we advance globalpediatric care to reach children
in the most underservedregions? And what role do partnerships
play in overcoming thehealthcare challenges that they face?
Today's episode dives intothese important questions. If you've
ever wondered howorganizations like world Pediatrics

(00:22):
ensure children in lowresource areas receive the medical
care that they desperatelyneed, you're in for a fascinating
discussion. Before we get intoit, I want to mention last week's
throwback episode featuringVafa Akavan, the CEO of World Pediatrics.
If you haven't had a chance tolisten to that yet, I highly recommend

(00:44):
checking it out. It offers agreat overview of the organization's
mission and their incredibleglobal impact. Since that conversation,
World Pediatrics has aundergone some major transformations.
To talk through these changes,I'm joined by three amazing guests,
Andrea Ahonen, who was seniorvice president of market development

(01:07):
at the time of recording,Mallory Trusty, vice president of
Op experience atorthopediatrics and Kate Corbett,
senior program director forthe US Region at World Pediatrics
together well cover theirrebranding, the powerful partnerships
driving their work, and thechallenges of creating sustainable

(01:28):
pediatric healthcare inunderserved communities. Make sure
you're subscribed to thepodcast, leave a five star review,
and share this episode withsomeone who might find it valuable.
Before we dive in, I'd alsolike to thank orthopediatrics for
sponsoring this episode.Orthopediatrics is a medical device
company dedicated to helpingchildren affected by orthopedic conditions.

(01:51):
You can learn more [e-mail] more on
that later. Andrea, thank youso much for coming onto the podcast.
This is a really timelyepisode to talk about world Pediatrics.
I want to talk about all ofthe crazy and amazing changes that

(02:15):
world Pediatrics has done inthe last year. And that's crazy cause,
you know, twelve months, somany things have happened. I have
Andrea here with me and Iwanted you to just kind of briefly
introduce yourself. What doyou do for world Pediatrics?
First of all, thanks so muchfor having me thrilled to be back
here a year later. And tobuild upon everything that WaFfa

(02:38):
shared in your conversationlast year, we've undergone a lot
of change, a lot of excitingand transformational change for our
organization year, including arebrand which those of you in the
marketing and branding worldknow how much that takes, a whole
new website, a lot of changeand how we communicate what we do.

(03:01):
You know, what we do isincredibly complex, and yet we know
we have to be able tocommunicate it in a straightforward
and easy to understand way.Therein lies a challenge for us,
and it was a reallyfascinating exercise over the last
year to hear what so many ofour stakeholders and really try to

(03:24):
bring that into the essence ofwhat we do.
I do want to ask, just for theaudience members, can you give a
little bit of an overview?
Absolutely.
So, our mission is to healchildren in less time in the world
by transforming access toadvanced pediatric care. There are

(03:46):
over 1.7 billion children inthe world, mainly from low resource
countries, who lack access toeven basic surgical care. The death
rates from lack of access tosurgical care are greater than the
death rates of HIV AIDS,malaria and tuberculosis combined.

(04:07):
And so this is truly a globalhealth crisis, particularly in the
pediatric realm. Pediatriccare is highly specialized, highly
nuanced. There lack resourcesfor that kind of care in the world.
The reasons for the challengesfor children to receive care vary

(04:29):
from country to country,region to region, and they are as
vast as the countries in whichwe work. So it's incredibly the obstacles,
the way we overcome thoseobstacles have to be very intentionally
crafted and developed to meetthe particular needs and challenges

(04:50):
of that country, and sometimeseven that region of the country.
So again, it's a highlycomplex situation and something that
is also high resource, as init takes a lot of funding, takes
a lot of training andeducation. Again, pediatric trained
specialists often requireyears more training than their counterparts

(05:13):
who treat adults well.
I mean, it makes sense, right?Pediatric patients are constantly
growing and changing, and it'sso hard to keep up with that. Can
you explain or give us alittle bit of a visual or paint a
picture of what worldpediatrics was like one year ago
to the changes that have been made?

(05:34):
Sure. Absolutely. So, likemany organizations, especially in
the global health space, theCOVID pandemic was an unexpected
and a huge changing andshifting point for our organization.
We were founded in 2001, so wewere gearing up for the 20th anniversary

(05:59):
of our organization. At thatpoint in time, we had learned a great
deal on how to effectivelydeliver care. At that point in time,
our programs were relativelyand mostly focused on care delivery,
as in the mechanisms of carebeing surgical and advanced care

(06:19):
teams, pediatric care teamstraveling from the US to other countries
to provide surgical diagnosticcare, and then the most complex cases
being referred to othercountries, mainly the US, whereby
those children that could notreceive care in their home countries

(06:39):
through our teams, came up forsurgical care. That was primarily
what we did. And then Covidhappened. And not only was the healthcare
industry inside the US andoutside the US completely upended
as was travel, as was thehealth care, the healthcare workforce.

(07:01):
We like to say it was theperfect storm for us because we could
not then get our fantasticpediatric medical volunteers from
the US to these countries. Wecouldn't get children from these
countries to the US. All of asudden, barriers existed that we
didn't have before. Andunfortunately, because of the rates

(07:23):
at which children are beingdiagnosed and dealing with so many
complex congenital conditions,but also, you know, accidents and
other traumatic injuries andsuch that we deal with, because as
I'm sure you recall, we are inover 20 different medical subspecialties,
from cardiac care toneurosurgery, plastic surgery, orthopedic

(07:47):
surgery and many others. Wehad to figure out a different way
to reach these children andnot let them suffer. And many would
die without surgicalintervention. And so that really
inspired us to think of how wecould get them care in different
ways in their home countries,and really was the catalyst for what

(08:12):
we now consider to be ourthree modes of impact versus it being
primarily care delivery. Welook at care being about delivery
of care. So again, you know,we still are making sure the kids
here and now, today, get thecare they need, but empowering care,
so that is whereby we areremoving a barrier or providing what

(08:35):
is needed for kids to get carein their home countries or home regions
by local providers. In somecases it's a financial barrier, in
some cases it's education andtraining. So it's a lot of extensive
training. All of our teamsthat are traveling abroad. So this
past year, I believe 80 teamstravels to partner countries. Every

(09:01):
single one of those teamsincludes a training and educational
component so that they are notoperating in isolation. They are
coming in and working side byside, shoulder to shoulder with medical
providers in country. And thenthe last motives impact being transformation
of the healthcare system. Sowe are really looking forward facing

(09:25):
on our vision being we wantthis pediatric healthcare system
to look different in 10, 20,50 years. We can only deliver care
in so many ways and if that'sall we focus on, we're not solving
the problem. So really thattransformation of care is what's

(09:47):
more sustainable and what isalso a harder nut to craft.
Right, right. But it's so muchmore sustainable because you're building
capacity in these differentclinics. I think that's what this
whole rebrand is all about.
Yeah, I think we realize notonly the impact on the efficiency

(10:09):
and effectiveness of gettingkids to care closest to home is typically
more efficient and costeffective, but it also is a huge
difference for that child andthat family to be able to be close
to their support network andtheir support system when they're

(10:29):
undergoing something sostressful and difficult. I always
think of, I'm a mom of four,and I think of how much trust these
parents put into us when theyare getting on a plane, just them
and their child, and travelingto another country where they may
or may not speak the language,and they're just being told, we can

(10:51):
get the care your child needs.Many their very first time being
outside of their village ortheir country, some have not even
ever been in a car or a planebefore or on a highway. So it's really,
it's a very jarring experiencein many ways. And so if they can
get care closer to home, thatof course, benefits the child and

(11:15):
the family tremendously. Andthen at the same time, that helps
increase that country'sability to provide that care and
build capacity. You know,again, if we are going to have a
different situation, if thesenumbers are going to have significant
impact, it's not going tohappen by just one child being treated

(11:36):
at a time. We've got to lookat really systemic change, and that
includes significant trainingand resource development, but it
also includes a lot offinancial transition. And how does
it look that this fundingmodel organizationally, probably
80% of our funding is sourcedthrough us based donors and institutions

(12:02):
and such. And so in additionto how we're shifting the healthcare
capacity abroad, we're lookingto help build greater ability to
connect funding opportunitiesto the healthcare systems abroad,
too. So we now havefundraising staff in countries that
are building donor interesteddonor bases and corporate partners

(12:25):
in those countries who areinterested in supporting their children
in their country get thehealth care they deserve. So in all
ways, you know, we really arefocusing on this transformation,
and it's not. It's notsomething that's going to happen
overnight. We know that hitour own obstacles that don't work
the way we think they're goingto work or hope they're going to

(12:47):
work. And so what I'm so proudof with this organization is that
not only are we focusing onthose transformational activities
and empowerment of the localhealthcare providers, but we are
still increasing in the numberof children that are actually served.
We're able to do thisadditional work without it coming

(13:08):
at the cost of not being ableto treat as many children. We will
see about a 35% growth in ourfunding year over year.
Every year. You're increasing35% the last two years?
Two years running, yep. Sincewe've been under this strategic plan,
we just wrapped up our secondyear of our three year strategic

(13:28):
plan. In both years, we'veseen tremendous growth. So that's
exciting and also a way thatwe can get in front of other significant
players in the global healthindustry, those who really have the
means and the interest inmaking that sustainable, transformational
change.
I just love that. I thinkthat's another reason why. I mean,

(13:52):
it's not just a project,right? It's like a full. A full on.
Yeah.
Well, and that right there,what you just stated is why we undertook
this. Rebrand. That name cameabout, I guess it was in 2011. At
that time, we had acquired asmaller organization in Missouri,

(14:12):
and the two organizations cametogether, and at that time, leadership
decided to rebrand. And thename chosen was World Pediatric Project.
And over the last, well, now13 years, as we grew and developed
these partnerships and thenetwork of care, when we say we deliver
care, it is a total network ofproviders of healthcare systems,

(14:38):
of government support frommany different countries. This is
certainly not done inisolation, and singularly, it is
completely a network. Butwe've delivered or we've built trust
and a lot of relationship overthat time to where these entities
could see that they knew wewere going to, to follow through

(14:59):
on our word and we were goingto leave any situation that we encountered
better than we found it. Werealized what we were doing was not
temporary. This was somethinglong term and incredibly needed.
There are not a lot oforganizations in our space in pediatric
global surgery, even fewerthat are in multispecialty. There

(15:21):
are certainly a few that arevery well known that do plastic surgery
only or cleft lip palate only.Or there's relief organizations like
Doctors Without Borders who gointo war torn or post disaster natural
disaster areas and helprelieve some of the immediate needs.

(15:42):
But what we do is long term.It's not relief based, it's continual,
and it's multispecialty. Andso we knew we needed, you know, what
we're doing is very needed inthe space. And so we just felt like
it was time to evolve beyond aproject because our work had already

(16:02):
done that. The word project,when we would ask people, one of
the things that people wouldsay was, it sounds temporary. It
sounds like there's a startand an end, and then you move on.
And we knew that that was notat all where our organization was
headed. And so that was whatreally prompted the rebrand. And
luckily, we had two othergreat words in there, world pediatrics,

(16:25):
so we didn't have to go far.
Yeah.
And it's been a very naturaltransition in that time period as
well. And we've had suchpositive feedback regarding the rebrand
and how we're talking aboutwhat we're doing and, of course,
all the visual components thatcome with the rebrand as well.
Yeah, and I can totally seethe difference, too. I've been on

(16:46):
the newsletter for a while,too, and then, you know, just poking
around on the website, it'slooking awesome. There's one story
that I keep hearing over andover again, which has, in effect,
told the story of worldpediatrics, comprehensive approach

(17:06):
to pediatrics. And it's aboutthis little girl named Tajana. So
I'll let you tell the story.
Yeah, I would be honored. I.As part of my role, I work primarily
in the marketing,communications, and development space.
As senior vp of marketingdevelopment, I do get an opportunity
to travel with our teams. Wehad almost 80 teams coming from the

(17:31):
US going to partner countriesin the last year. I was with a team
in January in Belize. We werein the southern region of Belize,
a very rural area that hasaccess to a regional hospital. It
does have a few ors in it, butit's relatively basic in its ability

(17:54):
to deliver care. And thosekids certainly don't have access
to pediatric care. There'sactually no pediatric trained surgeons
of any specialty in the entirecountry, Belize. So this is a plastic
surgery team that's beentraveling there for a number of years,
led by doctor Howard Krein outof Philadelphia. And so I was with

(18:15):
him and his team, and the veryfirst day we got there, the team
lands on a Saturday evening.And then first thing 07:00 a.m. sunday
morning, we're at the hospitalfor the clinic. Unfortunately, two
of the physicians had beendelayed coming out of Cleveland due
to weather. And so we hadDoctor Krein and his amazing fellow

(18:36):
doctor McCann there, and theysaw, I believe, 78 patients that
day.
Wow.
What's amazing always strikesme is how patient and grateful all
of these children and parentsare to be there. And even if they're
the 78th patient, they are sothankful to have the opportunity

(18:57):
to see the physicians and theteam. And so right away when we got
there, there was a very smallnewborn baby who was struggling to
breathe. You know, I am not amedical professional. I'm around
it enough to know someterminology, but like I said, I'm
a mom. And you could tell thatshe was really struggling to breathe.

(19:17):
She looked very discontent.And what I mean by that, not crying,
but just like she was way morealert and kind of on edge than a
newborn baby would normally belike, she was just, again, kind of
on guard. And she was verysmall and she had been losing weight

(19:39):
since birth, I think, at thispoint in time, which was shocking
to us, she was actually nearlytwo months old and she was, I think,
six pounds, and she had beenlosing weight. And so it was very
concerning. The family hadseen some sort of growth pop out
of her throat or out of hermouth a few different times. Mom

(20:03):
had a few pictures and videoof it and it looked almost like a
second tongue is how it wasdescribed, but it wasn't visible
all the time. And when the t.You know, when we looked at it, when
the physician looked in hermouth, literally in the hallway,
you couldn't see anything. Andbecause of how small she was and,

(20:23):
you know, obviouslystruggling, they bumped her first.
And the team saw her first anddecided they were going to do surgery
on her the next day. Andreally primarily exploratory because
they really did not know atthis point in time what they were
dealing with. So first thingthe next morning, the team, I believe
it was afternoon, they had afew other patients that went first.

(20:46):
They were getting their groovein. And then when they did bring
that patient back to Jhana,there was a mask that looked at that
point in time like it wassomewhat blocking her esophagus,
which would be preventing herfrom proper nutrition, perhaps preventing
her from being able to breathewell. But because of the lack of

(21:08):
different instrumentation anddevices that the team has there in
this regional hospital, theyweren't able to see her airway and
everything as well being shewas so tiny, you know, she was less
than seven pounds. It was veryevident the anatomy in her throat,
in her vocal cords and otherassociated areas was not normal.

(21:30):
And so the decision was madeto get her to care in the US. They
knew that something was notright and she likely needed really
urgent surgical intervention.That day, Doctor Krein was making
some phone calls in betweencases reaching out. Our local Belize
staff team started reachingout and our team here in the US to

(21:55):
hospitals and to surgeons thatmight be able to help. Within 36
hours, Doctor Krein hadconnected us with doctor EJ Caterson
at Nemours Children's Hospitalin Delaware. At this point in time,
we had never worked withNemours. We have a hospital network
of 20 or more hospitals in theUS, but we'd never worked with Nemours.

(22:18):
We'd never worked with DoctorCaderson. And he said, you know,
we'll do it. We'll take thiscase. The wheel got in motion, of
course. That includesnecessary government support from
the Belize Ministry of Healthto the US embassy in Belize. This
mom was 19 years old herself.It's her oldest child. She didn't

(22:39):
have a passport. Of course thebaby didn't have a passport. So in
order to get expeditedpassports and visas, that is incredibly
complex, typically. And ouramazing team in Belize was able to
get that done in literally acouple days.
What?
Yeah. They have proven timeand time again the worth and importance

(23:01):
of this work. And we've alwaysfollowed through with our word. And
so our amazing team in Belize,Milagro, Candice and Faye, were able
to get mom and baby Tajana allthe paperwork that they needed. Many
folks don't know that in a lotof countries, you can't just book
a flight to the US and hop ona plane and come here. You have to

(23:21):
have a visa before you canstep foot on a plane to come to the
US. And so this is a lot morecomplex of a process than you know.
At the same time, one of thenurses who was on this trip with
us, there were four surgeonsand then six nurses, an anesthesiologist
and two crnas completing thisteam. One of the nurses had called

(23:44):
her mom and was telling herabout this amazing case. And the
mother said, I want to help.The mom covered all of this baby
and her mom's flights to cometo the US. And we were able to network
with the Ronald McDonald housenear the hospital. They've an amazing
partner and we havepartnerships with their houses all

(24:05):
over the country for our kids.So they made a spot for mom to stay
while baby was going to behospitalized. And then the most.
Well, it's all remarkable, butone of the pieces of this puzzle
that was just so unbelievablewas within four days after this baby

(24:25):
was first seen by our team, aneonatologist and two NICU nurses
from Nemours Children'sHospital in Delaware. The very same
hospital that had agreed totake this case came down to Belize
in order to provide training.We have a global health program that

(24:48):
gives neonatal care skillstraining for nurses and physicians
in countries where they don'thave extensive skills. That team
was in Belize while this isall happening. And the day they were
going to be leaving a weeklater was the day that we were sending
Tajana and her mom home. Theycould not travel independently because

(25:11):
of how tenuous her breathingwas. We knew we needed to have a
medical escort to make surethat there was no respiratory distress
on the trip. And this doctorand nurse happened to be going back
home to the Philadelphiaairport, again, to the very same
hospital. No connection, ofcourse, to our knowledge, in how

(25:33):
this hospital was selected.And so that neonatologist and nurse
were able to accompany mom andbaby up to Nemours, immediately brought
her to the NICU to beassessed. A lot of extensive testing,
of course, being done. Withina couple days, she was in the OR,
and they uncovered and foundabout a seven or eight inch esophageal

(25:57):
polyp that was connected tothe very back of her tongue. And
it would flip down inside theesophagus so it couldn't be seen,
but it was almost completelyblocking her esophagus, meaning where
she was able to ingestnutrition, and then it would occasionally

(26:19):
kind of flip out, and so itwould then restrict her breathing.
And they'd never. And thesephysicians had never seen anything
like this. So it was, again,it was unbelievable that this little
baby was dealing with this.Once this was removed, they were
able to do some reconstructivework in the other areas of her anatomy

(26:43):
that was not correctly formed.And within days, she was gaining
weight.
And, wow.
I mean, it was the photos, youknow, the little plump cheeks, and
she started to get rolls onher arms. I mean, it was unbelievable
to see what a transformationshe made in just a few days. And
even our nurses that had beenwith us on the team trip in Belize,

(27:06):
when they got home, they werecollecting warm clothes for mom to
bring to her, because she'sfrom Belize, it's seventies, eighties,
all year long. She hadliterally a pair of open toed shoes,
and she's going to thePhiladelphia area in January. And
so they brought all sorts ofwarm coat and clothes and boots and

(27:28):
everything to her to spendtime with her. It was a familiar
face, and so it was justincredible to see the whole community
and world pediatrics networksupport her and support the baby.
Tajana is doing a amazing.She's growing. We love getting updates
from mom to see how much she'sfilling out and developing. And again,

(27:49):
that I described that look,and I almost think of it almost as
that this poor baby was in aperpetual state of panic. Not being
able to breathe properly andnot being nourished. And so to see
her sleeping peacefully, youknow, was just an unbelievable transformation.

(28:10):
And again, you know, it wasnothing short of divine, how all
of these pieces lined up.What's amazing being a part of this
work is this kind of thinghappens all the time. You know, we
really, again, building thosenetworks with ministries of health
and governments and usembassies and airlines and hospital

(28:33):
systems and doctors and nursesand all of the people that make this
work possible means that thisis something that we are able to
replicate because of this workthat we do and our reputation in
the industry. So we'reincredibly grateful and honored to
be able to do this on behalfof the kids that we serve and their

(28:54):
parents. You know, again, soappreciate the opportunity to talk
with you about it.
Yeah, I absolutely love thatstory. It just completely showcases
how world pediatrics is justso dedicated to closing the loop.
You know, you could just be amission to deliver care, but then
it's like, oh, we need a visa,we need a plane ticket. We need this

(29:15):
and that. And for yourorganization to really focus on all
of those things to make surethat this child gets the care that
she needs, amazing.
It's truly my honor to be partof this unbelievable mission and,
you know, work alongsidepeople that are so dedicated. It's

(29:36):
humbling, and I'm just honoredto do it. So thank you so much for
inviting us to chat with youtoday. And we'd love people to learn
more [e-mail] and get involved
in any way that they have interest.
World pediatrics doesincredible work, and you might be

(29:58):
wondering how they make such abig impact. As Andrea mentioned,
they focus not just onproviding care, but on supporting
patients throughout the entirecare cycle. That's huge. The real
key to their success lies inthe strong partnerships they've built
over the years, partners whonot only offer financial backing,

(30:20):
but also share a passion forthis vital work. One of these partners
is orthopediatrics, theamazing sponsor for today's episode.
Orthopediatrics is a medicaldevice company dedicated to improving
the lives of pediatricorthopedic patients worldwide. In
the next few minutes, you'llhear from Mallory, trustee, vice

(30:40):
president of op experience atOrthopediatrics. She'll be sharing
why this partnership means somuch to their team. Here's Mallory.
Thanks so much for being here.I know that you have a very, very
special partnership with WorldPediatrics. Why do you think orthopediatrics

(31:01):
partnership with WorldPediatrics is so special?
Well, thank you for having me,and thank you for inviting orthopediatrics
to be a part of this. Youknow, I think we were so lucky in
finding an organization likeworld Pediatrics because they are
so closely aligned with ourcause of helping kids all over the
world. We've been partneringwith world Pediatrics for over seven

(31:23):
years now, providing implantsand instrument systems for them to
take on medical missions andhelping children in the developing
world, as well as providingfinancial support. And it's a really
remarkable organization thatis so closely aligned with what we
do in trying to advancehealthcare for children all over
the world, especially thosewho don't have access to appropriate

(31:44):
care in their home countries.
Do you think that thispartnership with World Pediatrics
has changed the lives ofemployees at orthopediatrics, or
even, you know, the viewpointsof employees?
Yeah, absolutely. One of thethings that I'm most proud of at
Op is our culture and all ofthe brilliant folks that we have

(32:08):
who are committed to advancingour cause every day. And our partnership
with World Pediatrics is aperfect example of that, because
not only do we give from acorporate perspective, but every
year, our employees donate outof their pockets, out of their paycheck,
to a fundraising campaign forworld Pediatrics. And so every belly
button in the company reallycan feel like they're connected to

(32:32):
our charitable giving and thework that we do in partnership with
World Pediatrics. And inaddition to that financial support,
we actually send some of ourassociates on medical missions with
world Pediatrics. So it's areally fantastic and firsthand opportunity
for a lot of our folks to seethe work that we're doing and to

(32:53):
interact with these children,with their parents, with healthcare
professionals around theworld. I have had the privilege of
serving on a few of thosemedical missions, and it really is
a life changing experiencewhen you can see firsthand the work
that we do and the lives thatwe impact every single day. And I
know so many of my colleagueshave appreciated the opportunity

(33:14):
to do that. And it really islife changing, not just for us, but
for those kids and theirfamilies all over the world.
Amazing. It's easy to say thatpartnerships are important for making
an impact, because they are.But what truly matters are the stories
that emerge from thesecollaborations, like the one between

(33:37):
orthopediatrics and worldpediatrics. So in this final segment,
Kate Corbett, senior programdirector of world Pediatrics US region,
shares how their partnershipwith orthopediatrics goes way beyond
financial support, throughcountless stories, like the one of
a boy named Jose who sufferedfrom a severe case of scoliosis.

(34:03):
Kate, I think I just want tostart out by asking you a little
bit about what you do forworld Pediatrics.
Yeah, I've been with worldPediatrics for 20 years, actually.
This.
Wow.
Yeah. A long time.
Yeah.
I founded a predecessororganization, and then we merged

(34:27):
with our other office in 2011and became world Pediatric. So, very
long history and serve manypositions, but I currently serve
as the senior program directorof the US region. And so my main
focus is connecting childrenwho can't be helped in their home
countries through our variousprograms or in the region where they
reside with partner hospitalsin the US. These are usually the

(34:50):
most complex cases,necessitating more resources than
are available in their home countries.
Amazing. And how did you getinto that role?
Well, it's really how westarted here with our office here
and in our work is noting theinequities of care, knowing that
we have the medical resourcesthat others do not, and then being

(35:13):
able to connect other moms andchildren with the care that my child
received became an earlypassion. And I'd say that delivery
mode of care is where westarted as an organization of just
can we help children receivethe care that they do not have? And

(35:34):
then from there, it just keptbuilding and building to not just
that one child at a time, butlooking at the whole community and
working towards moreempowering and transforming where
we're at now with our depthsof work in the regions where we have
most of our work, in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean.

(35:57):
Earlier on in this episode,you know, I spoke with Andrea, and
we spoke about how now it'skind of the streamlined process of
bringing partners and bringingthe child to wherever they need to
get care and then having itkind of full circle. And it's so

(36:18):
interesting to me. But, youknow, when it comes to partnerships,
partnerships are so important,I think, for nonprofits and especially
like an organization likeworld pediatrics that is working
with children all around theworld. Orthopediatrics is one organization

(36:40):
that really put in theirdollars and then go in an extra step
to making sure that worldpediatrics is fully supported in
that aspect. So I want to ask,how did that partnership with orthopediatrics
come about? And can you talkabout how it's affected the reach

(37:03):
of world pediatrics?

(38:13):
Yeah, sure. I mean,partnerships are vital, and the only
way we're able to help so manychildren, we call it our global network
of care, because it takes somany partners in the US and the regions
where we work to carry out ourmission to not only heal children
like we were talking abouthealing the children one time, one

(38:34):
child at a time, but advancingpediatric care. So orthopediatrics
is a shining example of one ofour most valued partners speaking
to its early beginnings,Doctor Eric Gordon, who practices
at Shriners Children's and St.Louis Children's Hospital, which

(38:54):
is where our office islocated. He started leading our caribbean
general orthopedic program in2011. He was also a closer advisor
at the time to orthopediatricsin the very earliest days of their
company. So knowing one of thebarriers to care for these kids who
live in under resourcedcountries is the implant. So, you

(39:16):
know, you need the surgeon,you need the medical personnel, the
or, but you also need,especially in orthopedic surgery,
you need those vital implantsfor this degrees to happen and be
successful. So Doctor Gordonwas the introduction to orthopediatrics,
and it was such anextraordinary fit from the beginning.
We have a similar mission,passion to help children with their

(39:37):
surgery needs, specificallyorthopedic. And then they just made
us a perfect fit as partners,which we been able to grow significantly
over the years. Then, speakingof how they, you know, how that partnership
has grown and how it's helpedus accomplish our mission is, I mean,

(39:59):
our goal is to heal more kidsin less time. So right now, if you
looked into our database, wehave about 4000 children that are
active, meaning they arewaiting for our teams. They are waiting
for one of our programs,either a sponsorship for a local
surgeon to help them, orperhaps come to the United States

(40:22):
for complex care. So justabout half of those are orthopedic
patients. So that includeskids with upper and lower extremity
issues as well as kids withspine issues. So that shows you,
because we work with so manyspecialties, the fact that orthopedic
patients take up over half ofthat list, just how prevalent the

(40:46):
need is in the countries wework with. So most of these children
have congenital conditions,although we do see kids with deformity
stemming from trauma. So oneof the ways we reach and provide
care for so many of these kidsis through our diagnostic and surgical
teens. And orthopediatricsplays an integral and vital role

(41:07):
in those programs. Byproviding the implants for the surgeries,
we've been able to grow thenumber of teams that we send to our
partner countries because youcan't have the team without the implants,
it's all the different piecesof the puzzle. They also support
us fiscally with theiremployee campaign. They're this holistic

(41:31):
partner that not only helpswith the in kind donation or which
is the implants, but alsothrough their fiscal support of our
organization over the years.So, again, increasing the number
of teams, increasing thenumber of children that were able
to help here in the UnitedStates as well, those most complex
cases, they've really justhelped us grow in every way regarding

(41:56):
our orthopedic program andhealing children sooner, increasing
the number of children we serve.
Yeah, I think that's soimportant because I'm an engineer,
biomedical engineer myself,and it's quite funny, because when
I reached out toorthopediatrics to talk about this,
I told them, you know, I usedto work right down the road from

(42:19):
you guys. I was atdepucenthes, right?
Oh, wow.
Yeah. Yes.
With a small world in Warsaw, Indiana.
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. No, I'mdriving down the road and it says,
welcome to the orthopediccapital of the world. And I'm like,
crazy.
Yeah. I really enjoyedvisiting there, you know? You think

(42:43):
what? Warsaw? Why?
Well, people always thinkPoland when you say Warsaw.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.Dependent. It all makes sense. Yeah.
It's a pretty special place, Ithink another reason thing that makes
them such a good fit is thepassion that we all have. Their company

(43:04):
is so authentic and passionateabout what they do, and I think that's
why they don't just sendimplants, get that good feeling of
helping, which is soimportant. But they also have made
our work a household name intheir organization, and they share

(43:26):
the stories of the kids thatwe heal together. They send representatives
with our team and just. Andthen again, that the fiscal piece,
which is so important and kindof fuels the fire of our work, they're
all in to support us, so. WishI could replicate them over and over.
I love that. Do you have anyspecific stories of their team coming

(43:50):
down to help or what specificmissions that they've helped out
on?
Yeah, there's many over theyears, stories of healing, and then,
like, the ripple effect thatyou see of our work, which affects
children well beyond their.
Their physical state of healing.

(44:12):
I was thinking about thatbecause I'm asked that question often,
and one I can remember was Iwas standing in a clinic in Guatemala.
It was a spine clinic, andkids in and out with very significant
deformities. This one, again,specifically focusing on spine, mainly

(44:35):
scoliosis. And a little boynamed Jose and his family came into
the room, and mom had thislook of the most intense anxiety
on her face, which I laterfound out was because they'd been
seeking help unsuccessfullyfor him for so long. My guess is
she was preparing herself foranother crushing disappointment,

(44:58):
you know, and questions, butthen being, oh, so sorry, we can't
help. But Jose, on the otherhand, had this smile that filled
the room. He was ten at thetime. He was a bit small for his
age, and he just had an easein maturity beyond his years. And
we took off his shirt for theexam, and there was just this palpable

(45:22):
silence it was so obvious whyhis mother was so anxious. His deformity
was well over, well over 100,2030 degrees.
Oh, God.
And in the s would have. Yeah,it was mind boggling that he had
not started seeing effectsfrom that. But he told me about how

(45:42):
his favorite part was soccer,and he really kind of like, I'm just
a normal kid. I have nolimitations. But a child like Jose
would have started treatmentat a very young age with. He had
what's called congenitalscoliosis. He was born with it in
order to prevent significantdeformity. So in 2018, when we started

(46:05):
our program in Guatemala, noone in the public or private sector
had been performingscoliosurgery for over eight years,
which meant kids like Jose,their deformities just worsened and
worsened, and they were atrisk of respiratory difficulties
due to lung function, and aswell as losing the threat of losing

(46:28):
bowel and bladder control andbecoming weaker because of the stress
that's on the spine. So Jose'scase was so complex, and he needed
halo gravity, traction andsurgical treatment in the US that
was beyond, at that point, thecapabilities of our Guatemala spine
program. And he has awonderful ending to his story. Had

(46:51):
surgery through our usreferral program and is doing fantastic.
But what's so beautiful aboutorthopediatric support of our Guatemala
spine program is beyond thatone child again, at first, we focus
on catching up on the backlogof patients. The focal point being

(47:12):
always though, the training ofthe local surgeons and the nurses
and the other specialists,like the neuromonitoring specialists,
that are needed to do a safescoliosis surgery. That focus on
training is now we're seeingthe beautiful outcomes of that long
term investment. The Guatemalasurgeon that is our main partner

(47:34):
surgeon there, doctor AndresKobar, he is now doing some of these
surgeries on his own, withoutour help. That means it's not just
when our team is there thathe's able to help children, but throughout
the year. And then we continuetraining with our annual teams to
do more complex diagnoses too,and increase the capacity of the

(47:57):
local teams to work on theirown. So, again, that knowing that
kids like Jose will be treatedearlier, that is so beautiful. And
more identifying, treatingthem earlier and preventing significant
deformities such as Jose's.
But then, Guatemala is a huge country.

(48:18):
Of over 15 million people. Sothe words getting out about our program,
so those children that do comein with significant deformity, because
of our partnerships, becauseof the work we do that is so comprehensive,
we are able to help thosechildren as well.
Absolutely love that. And Ithink you mentioned the word of mouth

(48:40):
kind of thing where it's likepeople start to know. And in places
like Guatemala, Facebook, all.
The social media, that's huge.In the countries where we work, they.
Have all of that, thesmartphones and all of that. And
then also they found a placethat can work. And then one mom tells
another mom, which then theytell another mom, and then it just.

(49:03):
And then it just becomes aself licking lollipop, in a sense.
Right. It's like, as long asyou have the resources that are being
provided, then, wow, that's anamazing. Yeah, I love that.
And we have staff. You know,another vital piece of partnership
is the fact and how we work.We always talk about being shoulder
to shoulder with our partners,and that is in our medical communities

(49:27):
where we work, too.
And having staff on the ground is.
Just, I think, what sets usapart a lot and enables us to do
this depth of work becausethey're on the ground. Forging partnerships
with the public and privatehospitals, we try to do most of our
work in the public sectorbecause that's where the low income

(49:47):
patients are anyway. And then,you know, forging those partnerships
in depth, where we work andreally being on the ground and meeting
the patients and getting toknow the need is really extraordinary
and why we are able to do thetype of work that we do, which is

(50:11):
sometimes challenging, butit's certainly worthwhile. And we've
seen the long termsustainability piece really play
out.
Yeah, I think it's a littlebit. When you say sometimes challenging,
I'm sure it's more challengingthan people might think. But the
work that pays off is. Yeah,it's, like, indescribable. And, you

(50:34):
know, children are soresilient. I'm, you know, even me
visiting places like Honduras,El Salvador, even India. It's so
funny that Jose was justsaying, I'm just a regular kid, you
know, I just do kid things andlife's great, you know, and they

(50:56):
drill.
A halo into your head and putyou in halo attraction. And the smile,
you know, it just still comes.And, you know, we stub our toe in
the morning and complain forthe next three days, you know. So
these kids teach us a lot.
I know if you want a lifelesson, go on one of these trips

(51:16):
and just observe. That's like,just observe. I think I want to broaden
the conversation a little bitbecause I know that we're speaking
about orthopedicsspecifically, but I know that world
pediatrics works in so manydifferent other specialties. So I
was wondering, could you speakon some of the other specialties

(51:37):
that are pretty big in termsof, I guess, the roster of children,
you know, that you serve,Shmur, and then maybe any other type
of partnerships that worldpediatrics kind of hopes to forge
for the future?
Sure. World pediatrics mainfocus, of course, is in the global

(52:00):
pediatric surgery realm, andwe work with most pediatric specialties
outside of oncology. So thatincludes kids needing cardiac surgery,
plastic and craniofacial,general surgery, neurosurgery, urology,
ophthalmology. So all thepediatrics have specialty, plus the
ancillary services such ascomplementing our orthopedic programs

(52:25):
with physical and occupationaltherapies and our cleft lip and pellet
programs with speechtherapies, bracing. I mean, if you
do a surgery for a child withclub foot, that's another beauty
about our relationship oforthopediatrics. As they've grown
their specialties and servicesand product line, it's been able

(52:46):
to benefit our work as well.Yeah. So again, back to club foot.
If we do the surgery, if the.
Surgeon does the surgery onchild for club foot, then we have
to be able to provide thebracing as well, or they're just
going to regret back to theirpre surgery deformity. So that's
something we feel very strongabout, is really that holistic approach.

(53:09):
We also have a strong nonsurgical initiative focusing on neonatal
care training, which empowerslocal medical communities to take
care of those tiny newborns tonot only survive, but to thrive and
minimize long term effectswhich happen and often come with
a babies that are bornpreterm. So that's a really growing

(53:29):
initiative we have as well.That's beyond what our global surgery
focus and partnerships. Imean, everything I just named. So
every different specialtyrequires supply partnership. You
will hear me over and over andeveryone in the organization talking
about our focus to heal morechildren in less time.

(53:51):
Right.
That's why we're here. And tobuild that local healthcare capacity
and their ability to healtheir own children closer to home,
too. So, from governmententities, which are so helpful in
whether it's getting suppliesinto the country or supporting some
of our work financially, thehospitals, medical personnel, more

(54:16):
suppliers likeorthopediatrics, when we do cardiac
surgery, we need alsosupplies. We need the patches to
put on a child's hole in theirheart. So all of our different work
need different medicalsupplies. So medical supplies, supply
partners, and increasing thoseis very important. And then fiscal

(54:37):
partners, I mean, we need morepeople to invest in our work. That's
the way we're going to reachmore children sooner and address
the vast inequities ofhealthcare around the world. So it's
the whole puzzle. We can't doone without the other. And the more
partners we have, the morechildren work on a reach. Enlist

(54:59):
yeah.
So if you're listening to thisand if you're part of a company that
might align with the missionof world Pediatrics, reach out to
them. See what they're allabout. See if you want to partner.
That could be such an amazingthing for your employees or the people
that you work with. Sodefinitely reach out. Kate, it was

(55:22):
such a great conversation tohave. Thank you so much for telling
that story about Jose. I justlove hearing, it just touches my
heart whenever I hear storieslike that. And so thank you so much
for coming on.
Thank you, Heffel. I reallyappreciate it. Blake Jose are what
motivates us to get up everyday and work as hard as we can to

(55:45):
help more kids.
Thank you for listening tothis episode. If you'd like to learn
more about today's topic andguest, head over to the show notes
linked in the description ofthis episode. There you can get access
to resources, links, and waysyou can get involved in the pursuit
for global health. And if youloved this episode, don't forget

(56:07):
to write me a review on ApplePodcasts and rate the podcasts on
Spotify. It helps me get infront of more people just like you
and continues to elevate thecauses we are so passionate about.
I'll see you in the next one.