By Shannon Lukens. (Courtesy photos)

 

Three medical professionals from the Yampa Valley are home from Vietnam after a trip with the non-profit Touching Hands organization. It’s part of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Mission Statement of Touching Hands: Touching Hands provides life-changing hand surgeries, rehabilitation and medical training in the world’s underserved communities.

Dr. Patrick Johnston is a hand surgeon with Steamboat Orthopaedic and Spine Institute.

“We did a bunch of hand surgeries there. We did education for the local surgeons and health care providers.”

 

Dr. Johnston said they helped children to adults, but mostly pediatric cases in DaNang.

 

Joining on the trip were Physician Assistant Joan Donham and Certified Hand Therapist Emily Tjosvold.

 

 

 

While the Yampa Valley can be considered rural, Dr. Johnston said Vietnam had much higher needs.

 

“Vietnam, even though we were in a major city, doesn’t have all the resources of U.S. major cities. We were able to provide high-level care in this hospital in Vietnam.”

 

Dr. Johnston said they plan to go back to Vietnam for more medical outreach and follow up with some of the patients they saw on the trip.

 

This is a picture of another patient, that just had surgery on his foot, who was riding home from the hospital on a motorbike.

 

Today, Dr. Johnston is headed to Nebraska to see patients for more medical outreach, as there isn’t a hand surgeon in the rural panhandle of Nebraska.