SunMedica Inc

Congrats to Op Walk on another great mission helping others walk normally again...

Photos taken by our videographer, Pablo Ortega, during our most recent trip to Antigua, Guatemala in August of 2021.

SunMedica, Inc. is proud to announce that Sager Emergency Traction Splints & Sager Breakaway Stretchers are now a product division of SunMedica. Learn more about the recent addition in our latest press release.

Press Release: SunMedica, Inc. Acquires Sager Product Lines - SunMedica Inc FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE REDDING, California – SunMedica, Incorporated is a medical products manufacturer specializing in orthopedic surgery products, is proud to announce the addition of the Sager Emergency Traction Splint & Sager Breakaway product lines to our offerings. Sager Emergency Traction Sp...

As business in our normal category has slowed, we are manufacturing and donating 100's of masks to hospital staff in our area... This way our employees can continue to work and we can also help our community at the same time.

Yes, we do. Thank you Operation Walk for all you do.

Together, we can accomplish great things....

We are blessed in supporting all that you do....

"The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others." — Mahatma Gandhi

Operation Walk

- One of our original volunteers and physical therapists, Kyle Baldwin, takes time to share a smile with his patient during our 2014 trip to Managua, Nicaragua. Happy Friday friends. ❤️

Happy to see the positive results and the happy people...

Today's comes from Dr. Neda Farbod, who made her first trip with Operation Walk this spring to Havana, Cuba.

"Thank you Dr. Dorr and Jeri for making this trip possible for me. Being a member of the team was an exceptional experience that I will cherish forever. It was amazing to see so many different people from all medical walks of life working like a beautifully oiled machine and an enjoyment to be there and contribute. I can only imagine the effects we have in each individual life we give back their mobility and activity."

We Rise by Lifting Others....Thanks to all OP Walk members who are lifting others....

Celebrating by honoring our women volunteers. Each year, these amazing ladies, donate their time and talents to plan, organize, pack, ship, problem-solve, operate, translate, coordinate, trouble-shoot, accommodate and feed dozens of people, care for patients, educate peers, and lift the spirits of our patients and everyone around them. Thank you for your professionalism, stamina, hard work, kindness, and love. ❤️

Happy Sunday.

Thank you all....

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Thinking about our founder, Dr. Lawrence Dorr and how his connection to his patients reminds us that our mission is more than just surgery.

We are a proud supporter of OP Walk and all that it does....If we can help others by supporting your efforts, we are glad to do just that.

This week we gladly processed another donated shipment for OP Walk LA for their upcoming trip. Best of luck! We're glad to assist where we can.

Keep up the good work OP Walk..

Thank you Operation Walk USA, Dr. Lawrence Dorr, Jeri Ward, Lisa, Lynn, and all the team at USC Keck Medical Center. One week with my new hip. Thank you very, very much!

Yes...Dr. Dorr and all the supporting staff including the additional OP Walk Chapters and their supporting staff deserve tremendous praise. Their work blesses the lives of many around the world. Thank you.

“The smiles that spread across their faces are something you never forget."
-Dr. Lawerence Dorr, Founder Operation Walk

Thank the Lord for the insight and dedication of Dr. Larry Dorr to bring the simple blessing of being able to walk to countless individuals. They have unsung praises of thanks to Dr. Dorr and his followers.

“I am humbled by the growth and meaning of Operation Walk throughout Orthopedics and the countries where it has operated, including our own country. The thousands of people it has touched, both the givers and the receivers, have better lives because of the good and goodness that is OPWALK.”

-Lawrence D. Dorr M.D.

Support the efforts of Operation Walk....

has arrived! Your donations will help us provide life changing surgeries and rehabilitation to patients who would not otherwise be able to afford hip and knee replacements. Your donation makes an impact on each patient that we operate.

Your donation can provide one of the following:

-$25 provides a cane
-$50 provides a set of crutches
-$100 provides a walker
-$250 provides surgical supplies for one surgery
-$500 provides physical therapy for a recovering patient
-$1,000 provides one implant
-$2,500 provides funding for a complete surgery

SunMedica has proudly supported OP Walk and Dr. Dorr for many, many years. We gladly continue our support in helping OP Walk help others at home and abroad. Thank you Dr. Dorr.

Thank you Op Walk Syracuse team for the bricks you've made. SunMedica Inc is happy to provide some of the sand that you used...

This is our third trip in as many years to Koforidua, Ghana, and every day that we have worked here - every day - there has been a repetitive “thump thump thump” coming through the windows of St. Joseph Hospital.

Across the street there is a brickmaker. When we arrive at 7am, he is out there in his lot, making bricks. He makes them one at a time. He pours cement mix into sand, mixes it on the ground, then shovels it into a mold, and slams the mold cover down on it repeatedly. Thump... thump... thump. He makes a brick. He then lifts the brick from the mold and sets it out in the sun to dry.

He makes 120-150 bricks per day, and he sells each brick for about 12cidi, or $3 American. In Koforidua, that’s heavy industry.

He starts working around 6:30 am, and he is typically working when we leave, with darkness descending. So the soundtrack of the entire day is characterized by the regular “thump, thump, thump” of his brick mold.

It doesn’t take long to realize what exactly is made of these bricks in Koforidua: EVERYTHING. The streets are literally lined with unadorned gray brick buildings. The hotel we are staying in is made of them. The gas stations are made of them. So are the schools. The storefronts. The apartment buildings. And the hospital where we are working. And each edifice is built one brick at a time.

And there’s the thing: Each of us plays a small but crucial role in our larger realm. One individually-made brick at a time, we build a school, a bridge, a hospital, and a community. Thump, thump, thump.

That small thing that you do? It matters. Greatly. Because it’s a brick in a much larger structure. And if even one brick fails, the entire structure loses some degree of stability, and is at increased risk of collapse. Your role is crucial.

This week, OpWalkNY replaced 84 joints in Koforidua, Ghana. We made bricks from dawn to darkness, every day, all day. With the tireless help of our team members (nurses, techs, equipment reps, therapists, logistics team and everyone else... I really don’t want to forget anyone - they are all so important to our cause), we mixed the cement, shoveled it into the mold, and pounded them out. One at a time.

The fun of it is wondering where those bricks will go from here. What bridges will they build? What important structures will they go on to support? The world is a big place, Africa is a big continent, and it faces some big questions. And there is still a lot to be built.

Maybe you can’t build a bridge. But you can make a brick. And maybe Operation Walk can’t change the world. But it can change a life. And the possibilities from there are limitless.

Please once again accept our most sincere thanks for your attention and support. Op Walk works because you make it work. Because of your support, in the weeks ahead, someone will stand and take their first painless steps. And then go change the world. Or at least make a brick.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

We're happy to support OP Walk Syracuse in their efforts.....

In the course of your life, you have learned the concept of force modulation. Through a process of trial and error, you have learned how hard to close a car door, how gently to open a sugar packet, how carefully to hammer in a nail, and how cautiously to pass a thread through the eye of a needle. It takes practice, practice you sometimes don’t even realize you’re doing. But anyone who has successfully obtained toothpaste from a tube knows what I’m talking about.

In orthopedics, we learn the same concept. Through a rigorous and well-governed training process, we learn how hard you can pound a hip stem into a femur, or how tightly you can turn a screw into bone. Sometimes - and this is a universal truth - we learn things the hard way. We learn to do it right by doing it wrong. But learn it, we do.

But imagine if you suddenly found yourself in a world where those rules of force modulation were suddenly inapplicable. You push a car door shut - and it barely moves. You go to open a bag of salt & vinegar potato chips, and it doesn’t open. So you pull as hard as you can AND IT STILL DOESN’T OPEN. Wait... what?

This is joint replacement surgery in Ghana. The bone we have learned to handle so carefully in the States is as hard as granite here. This is a result of genetics, and a pathological issue known as osteonecrosis - “bone death.” People with the sickle cell trait have a predilection to clotting crises, and this results in abnormally hard bone. And in some of these Ghanaian patients, the bone is literally like stone. We deplete batteries and wear down metal saw blades just trying to cut through their bones.

So the usual rules no longer apply. We have had to re-educate ourselves with respect to the amount of force we have to apply to our tools. (And - let’s be honest - educating orthopedic surgeons is no picnic the first time around, never mind the second.)

Today was the second of four surgical days. So far we have replaced 45 joints: 38 hips and 7 knees. We continue to see cases of a complexity that is almost never seen in the US. And, from this experience, we continue to learn how best to provide care for these patients.

Thank you, as always, for your attention and support.

WOW! Now that says something...

Larry wouldn't be Larry without Jeri...

Today's celebrates the legendary partnership between Dr. Dorr and Jeri Ward. Dr. Dorr and Jeri have worked together for over twenty-two years to make his vision of free orthopedic care and team training in joint surgeries around the world a reality. When these two put their heads together-there is no such thing as impossible.

Dr. Dorr....an great example of what's possible.

Dr. Lawrence Dorr is the original founder of OpWalk and it is because of his vision that OpWalk Carolinas exists today. As Operation Walk LA celebrates 22 years of helping people around the globe walk again we thank him for his perseverance and his dedication to health for the people of the world. Operation Walk

Does your facility have a high % of re-admission for surgical site infections (SSI) or other complications? You should use our compression hipRAP, kneeRAP, or shoulderRAP and minimize your post-surgical swelling, blistering, or drainage that can be a cause of SSI.

We celebrate together with Op Walk and the great work they do...

Celebrating . Thank you to our friends, family, and new acquaintances for your dedication, love, and support. You are our online family and help us to spread the word about the mission to to those who need it most ❤️

What a legacy of love and hope created by this man and his team...

Celebrating and with one of our all time favorite photos. Dr. Dorr always has such a deep connection with his patients and this young lady from Arusha, Tanzania was no exception.

Have a great day everyone and don't forget to share your smile with someone!

Happy Mother's Day to all hard working mom's at Operation Walk

Happy Mother’s Day to moms worldwide!

SunMedica proudly supports the efforts of OP Walk chapters nationwide..

Way to go OP Walk Carolinas.....

Teamwork:
Yesterday was our final day of surgery at Roberto Calderon Hospital here in Managua. In total we replaced 53 joints. When the numbers stack up that is the same amount of volunteers that traveled here to Nicaragua with us.

Every surgery is a team effort-from the OR staff to Central to our team in the Wards and our volunteers-everyone give 100% and puts in the long hours just for one reason-to help people regain their mobility and ultimately their freedom.

Here's to our volunteers-thank you for giving your all this week. We may come in as strangers but we leave as family.

Way to go OP Walk....

San Pedro Sula, Honduras 2018

Keep up the good work

The team was up bright and early and at the hospital today in Honduras. You can see patients lined up outside the hospital waiting for their cases to be considered for joint replacement. We are off and running.

SunMedica is proud to be supporting OP Walk Carolinas in their efforts in Honduras.....May you be blessed in your efforts.

And we’re off! ✈️ The team headed out this morning in the rainy weather, after a short stop in Florida for gas we are off to Honduras.

Sending another shipment of our post-op hipRAP, kneeRAP, and our surgical positioner hipGRIP, kneeGRIP to Operation Walk Carolina. Tho we can't be there in person, our donated products will help their efforts. May God bless you as you bless the lives of those in need.