“It’s inspiring to know that Scott & White’s
commitment to children transcends borders.”
—Venkata Raju, MD
medical care is provided only to those
who can afford to pay for the services.
Lauren Swain, RN, BSN, remembers
walking into NICE and seeing a list of
prices for each medical service offered at
the hospital. “It reminded me of a menu at
a fast-food restaurant,” she says. “It really
struck me, because every patient must pay
out-of-pocket for the care they receive.
In the United States, even if you can’t
afford medical insurance, you are still
given access to care.”
Through a series of conferences and
patient care clinics, the team shared their
experience and training with their Indian
colleagues responsible for delivering
neonatal, perinatal, and pediatric care.
Cheryl Cipriani, MD, director of Scott
& White’s Division of Neonatology, and
associate professor of pediatrics at Texas
A&M Health Science Center College
of Medicine, spoke to physicians about
newborn screening. “I was impressed
with the training of midwives caring for
women in tribal areas,” she says. “The
midwives learned to recognize the signs
that might indicate an expectant mother
McLane Children’s
Dream Team
Steven Allen, MD
Cheryl Cipriani, MD
Murali Jatla, MD
Danny Little, MD
Venkata Nakta Raju, MD
Teresa Baker, NNP
Nikki Leschber, RN
Amelia O’Brien, RN
Myesha Schultz, RN
Lauren Swain, RN, BSN
needed to be moved to a hospital to
receive a higher level of care.”
One of the group’s most poignant
memories from the trip was treating
schoolchildren in a makeshift clinic
beneath a large shade tree. Murali Jatla,
MD, chief of Scott & White’s Section
of Pediatric Gastroenterology, and
assistant professor of pediatrics at Texas
A&M Health Science Center College of
Medicine, remembers one family whose
10-year-old child finally received surgery
for a congenital problem. “While most
infants in the United States would
have had the procedure right away, this
family had to wait until they found a
hospital that offers charity care and then
had to save their resources just so they
could make the bus trip to the hospital,”
he says.
Danny Little, MD, Scott & White’s
trauma medical director , chief of pediatric
surgery, and assistant professor of surgery
at Texas A&M Health Science Center
College of Medicine, gave a presentation
on neonatal surgery, and admires the
courage of the healthcare professionals
at NICE for trying to change the way
healthcare is delivered. “It’s difficult for
a system based on referrals to succeed,”
he says, “and I can see how hard they are
working to try and base their hospital’s
care delivery on the concepts of Western
medicine. In a booming population with
a lack of infrastructure, they have a system
that sends kids home with no promise of
follow-up, so it’s imperative for them to
get the best results possible from the start.”
“I feel blessed to be able to do this
as part of an extraordinary team of
healthcare providers,” says Dr. Raju. “We
were able to extend a helping hand half
a world away. It’s inspiring to know that
Scott & White’s commitment to children
transcends borders.” n
(top) Nikki Leschbar, RN, teaches a
group of nurses during a workshop.
(bottom) The McLane Children’s
dream team is introduced during
the first educational session.
View a slide show of some of the workshops conducted
by McLane Children's staff during their time in India.
sw.org | Summer 12 The Catalyst
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