This has been our main focus thus far with 96% of our 523 patients receiving surgeries to correct this deformity. Left untreated, scoliosis can result in compromised heart and lung function. Apart from improving the overall health and quality of life for these children, scoliosis correction allows Dominican children to be accepted again in a society that shuns physical deformity. In many cases, children with scoliosis are not allowed to go to school because “they will be bullied.” Once corrected, these children are then allowed to become educated. Surgeries are therefore, life-changing not only physically but also socially and emotionally. Each year, we hold a reunion of all our previous patients. That is where we see the fruits of our labor. Children that were once ostracized by their society, return to us with new-found hope and self-confidence.

Although POP has focused on treating scoliosis, the hospital in Santiago also needs assistance in treating children with other orthopedic disorders. In 2016 POP began expanding its pediatric orthopedic surgical care beyond scoliosis. As a result, POP has successfully treated 20 additional children with a variety of orthopedic conditions such bowing deformities and trauma. POP hopes to continue to expand our treatment into other areas of orthopedics in the future.