M a y 2 0 1 3 V o l u m e 1 2 8 • N u m b e r 5

Shriners Hospitals for Children - UPDATE
Mayo Clinics and
Shriner’s Hospitals:
On March 27th, we
announced to the world
that Shriners Hospitals
for Children is now the
15th member of the
Mayo Clinic Care
Network.
e great expertise of
our Shriner’s Hospital
System and doctors
combined with the world
class medicine and
Douglas E.
Maxwell,
President &
CEO
research accomplished at the Mayo Clinic
group will make our Shriner’s Care
Presence, the premium pediatric care in the
upper Midwest. is is something we can
all take great pride in. We already have 8
Mayo physicians seeing Shriner children at
our hospital.
During our meetings with Mayo, we
were informed that the children of the
inland Southwest are being underserved in
orthopedic care. We have begun exploring
Shriners Hospitals initiating our pediatric
orthopedic care at Mayo’s new Hospital in
Phoenix, Arizona.
Follow-up Clinics:
As I have traveled this Spring to the
various regional Shrine association
meetings, part of my message is to ask if
the Shrine Hospital is quite some distance.
is makes those 30 minute follow-up
visits an all-day event for the mother and
child and driver. I’m suggesting that the
Shrine Center might want to begin
exploring accomplishing this clinical event
at a medical facility within their own town.
• A medical entity that would have X-ray
capability,
• Preferably an orthopedic surgeon, but a
general physician would be fine
• A capability to allow Shriners Hospital
to use the space frequently enough to
take care of these visits.
Richard N. Purcell, Divan Dennis W. Boom PP Earl J. Holcomb
• Maybe one afternoon a week, or on an
“as scheduled” and needed basis.
is new concept is hoped to be able
to help with our Shriner’s transportation
budgets and cost and the hardships
imposed on our patients families for
those necessary check-ups. In addition
our drivers, who always get up so early to
pick up the family and drive them to the
hospital for those early morning visits.
God bless them all and keep them safe.
Wounded Warriors Update:
e interest shown by our
membership this Spring to the news that
we are going to be helping America’s
Wounded Soldiers has been
overwhelming and very heart warming.
In January, I had my first meeting at
the Pentagon with the Under Secretary of
Defense for all Military Medical Affairs.
e Under Secretary, Dr. Jonathan
Woodson, first received the quick version
of the history of the Shrine Masons and
why this group of men have been
historically so charitable and giving.
Fortunately, Dr. Woodson, having
done part of his residency at our Boston
Burns Hospital, knew of Shriners skills
and expertise and the fraternity’s history
of talking care of those who need care
without regard to the patient or family's
ability
to pay.
He then
said to
me
“Shriners are good people.”
I then explained to him why we were
offering our help. Shriners are patriots,
many have personally served in our
various conflicts and wars from World
War ll to Korea, to Viet Nam, Desert
Storm, and now Iraq and Afghanistan.
Shriners Hospitals have very skilled
physicians in our 20 US Hospitals placed
from Hawaii to Boston, who are experts at
helping individuals with missing limbs and
the trauma associated with a sudden event.
Our doctors are at the top of their field
handling the constant adjustments required
of the artificial limbs. Our multi located
hospitals could save the injured soldier a lot
of time and energy by coming to one of our
nearer facilities instead of having to take
the much longer path back to a military
hospital with similar capabilities.
Dr. Woodson did ask that if, in addition
to helping those soldiers who have lost
limbs with the prosthesis adjustments,
could we also help with the scars they get
from the blast flame that happens with the
IED’s explosion? I reminded him that this
is certainly another aspect of our mission,
our reconstructive burns surgery.
His next comment caught me a little off
guard: “Mr. Maxwell, I know the Shriners
and their humanitarian mission very well,
and I know that what I am about to say is
not at all why you are here. But each of
these soldiers have very fine insurance
called Tricare and Shriners will be offered
this to help defer your cost of providing
these services.”
Again I re-affirmed his
comment that this is not
why we are doing this…
but it will certainly help
with all of the care we
provide to many children
from all over the world.
In further
conversation that
morning, Dr. Woodson
being well aware of our physicians being
among the world’s best at what they do,
asked if we could do exchanges of
physicians with fellowships between the
United States Military doctors and the
Shriners Hospitals doctors
And then we moved to the area of
Research. Dr. Woodson could foresee the
interaction of our two great Research
Programs to come up with new cures for all
of humanity.
It was a very good first meeting.
Yours in the Faith,
Douglas Maxwell
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kenneth
Guidera and Director of Research, Dr.
Raymond Novak, have been meeting with
Military leaders to discuss this new direction.
For a full report, go to ShrinersVillage.com.
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