Our Story
Surgical Outreach for the Americas
Founded September 13, 2012
Co-Founders
Peggy Frisella, RN and Brent D. Matthews, MD
Mission Statement:
Surgical Outreach for the Americas is a nonprofit organization that provides surgical services to the underserved in the developing countries of North, Central and South America.
SUMMARY:
Millions of people are in extreme need of compassionate health care throughout the world. In 2009, motivated out of deep personal faith and a sincere humanitarian interest, a team of healthcare providers was assembled by Brent Matthews, MD, Chairman of Surgery at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) in Raleigh, NC, and Peggy Frisella RN, Manager of Research Operations at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, with the necessary professional, culturally sensitive and personal skills to effectively serve a unique group of underserved people from the campos (rural countryside communities) in the Dominican Republic. January 2014 marked the sixth year that our surgical team traveled to the Dominican Republic to perform outpatient surgeries, primarily hernia repairs, for the underserved. The people in the Dominican Republic that we serve are primarily farmers or day laborers. Their agrarian lifestyle requires daily physical activity which can lead to abdominal wall hernias for many. This results in physical disability and an immeasurable hindrance to familial and/or community sustainability because this population of Dominicans does not have access to any organized healthcare let alone specialized services such as surgery.
In December, 2013, we received our 501c3 non-profit determination from the IRS for our newly formed organization, “Surgical Outreach for the Americas” (SOFA) (https://surgicaloutreach.org/dir) . We are now able to expand our vision of bringing surgical services to a greater number of people. The need for the services we provide in the Dominican Republic is similar throughout Central and South America, due to the agrarian lifestyle of the people. It is our hope to expand our surgical outreach, primarily hernia repair, to those in need, by increasing the number of humanitarian missions each year in an effort to reach as many as possible.
Our team is comprised of surgeons, resident general surgeons, support physicians, certified registered nurse anesthetists, registered nurses, and additional staff for preoperative assessment and preparation, operating room circulators, sterile processing and postanesthesia recovery. Several of the members of our mission team are fluent in Spanish, personalizing the patient-healthcare provider relationship. Our group has regular strategic planning meetings to discuss team efficiency, infrastructure needs and equipment inventory.
Our goal remains steadfast to continue to increase our operative and clinic efficiency to reach as many patients as possible while maintaining the highest standards of clinical care. As this mission is realized, the patients we serve as well as the members of our healthcare team will personally benefit from these unique humanitarian experiences.
