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Potsdam doctor returns from medical mission trip to Costa Rica, performed 15 surgeries for poor children

Posted 6/29/15

POTSDAM -- St. Lawrence Health System surgeon Jeffrey Haasbeek recently returned from a mission trip to Costa Rica, where a surgical team performed 15 of what SLHS describes as “life-changing …

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Potsdam doctor returns from medical mission trip to Costa Rica, performed 15 surgeries for poor children

Posted

POTSDAM -- St. Lawrence Health System surgeon Jeffrey Haasbeek recently returned from a mission trip to Costa Rica, where a surgical team performed 15 of what SLHS describes as “life-changing surgeries for children of less fortunate families.”

“It’s good for the soul,” said Haasbeek, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and adult hand surgery specialist.

“Medical care in many countries is reserved for the wealthy,” said Haasbeek, who traveled in the company of Randy McDonald, nurse anesthetist and Lisa McDonald, operating room nurse.

“If we didn’t do this, young children would have vastly different lives,” said Haasbeek. “We offer care, and we offer training to caregivers in other countries, and at the same time we help ourselves to become better human beings.”

He cites the example of parents of a 3-year-old child who came to see him. The child had suffered a shoulder injury during birth. The injury left him able to use his hand and move his elbow, but he had no use of his shoulder.

Haasbeek surgically transferred the child’s latissimus dorsi (broadest muscle of the back) to the rotator cuff (a capsule formed of tendons that supports shoulder movement), which restored the child’s ability to use his shoulder.

“The child and his parents were so grateful,” said Haasbeek. “It makes you value what you have in this country, and also teaches you about happiness—it doesn’t come from having more money or more things. It comes from inside and from having good health,” he added.

The surgery was typical of the soft-tissue surgeries performed by Haasbeek and his team.

“We stuck to soft-tissue surgeries this trip because we had trouble at the border bringing in some of our equipment that would have allowed us to do more major surgeries involving bones and joints,” said Haasbeek. Normally on his mission trips the surgical team performs 50 – 60 surgeries, and many that are more advanced surgeries. Even with the border issues, the team was still able to leave behind 50 large packages of donated equipment.

This was the third of three trips Haasbeek has taken under the auspices of Community Cares for Kids, a not-for-profit organization based in Shavertown, Penn. that supports medical missions to the developing world. Haasbeek has previously completed five missions to Equador, and one to India. Several of these trips included his daughters and son, who are interested in following in their father’s footsteps.