Jacksonville, Fla. – Members of the Facing Futures Foundation at Shands Jacksonville have their scrubs and surgical gear packed and ready to go for their annual trip to Vietnam, set for March 24 through April 4. Under the direction of Barry Steinberg, M.D., D.D.S., chief of the University of Florida Jacksonville Division of Maxillofacial Surgery, the team will be involved in treating children with facial disorders and training local physicians.
Steinberg established the Facing Futures Foundation in the mid-1990’s. His mission with the organization is to enhance the health and well being of pediatric patients with facial disorders. Steinberg says, “Whether the children are overseas or right in our own backyard, I want to help them.” And one of the best parts about Steinberg’s foundation, all the medical attention his young patients receive is absolutely free.
A team of nurses and surgeons from around the world, including several from Shands Jacksonville, plan to join Steinberg in his mission to help the Vietnamese children. When they touch ground in Vietnam, they will start screening over one hundred children with facial disorders. Their next step will be prioritizing a surgical strategy. And from there, the long hours of operating begin. Also during their time in Vietnam, they will check on patients they treated on previous visits.
Several medical companies are joining the cause of the Facing Futures Foundation by donating necessary surgical equipment. Some of them include Walter Lorenz Surgical, Ethicon, Regent Medical, Halocarbon Inc., Lilly Cares Foundation and Stryker Corporation. The donations include items necessary for craniomaxillofacial procedures as well as equipment used for anesthesiology.
The Facing Futures Foundation is located at Shands Jacksonville. For more information about the foundation, contact Kimberly Carter at (904) 244-5652.