The Shrine continues its tradition of providing quality care at no
charge.
One of our Brother Shrine Free masons out in Utah commented that he became a Noble 30 years ago—and remains a Noble today—because of Shriners Hospitals for Children. As he stated: "This is a tremendous work we’re doing, and I’m proud to be a part of it."
These are certainly nice words from veteran Brother George J. Zambos,
32° (pictured above), of El Kalah Temple in Salt Lake City, who has
literally spent nearly half of his life sponsoring more than 700 patients
at our Intermountain Shriners Hospital.
Indeed, not all of our Shriners have rung up the numbers that George
has, but we do have a lot of our members who are committed to the mission
of Shriners Hospitals. That is: Providing quality care at no charge to
our patients.
As a former Chairman of our hospital system’s Buildings and Equipment Committee, I have had a lot of involvement in the bricks-and-mortar aspects of a few of our hospitals. Today, though, as the Fraternity’s Imperial Potentate and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shriner’s Hospitals, I am seeing our hospitals from a different perspective by witnessing first-hand the tremendous work being done in our orthopaedic and burn care facilities.
Take, for example, a youngster such as Robert Fey, who could be described as the embodiment of the kind of things that Shriners Hospitals are known for. Robert was paralyzed by a spinal cord injury at age two. Doctors told his parents he would never be able to walk.
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Francis Glorieux, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Research
at the Canadian Shriners Hospital in Montreal, assists a patient. |
Last summer, Robert appeared at the Imperial Council Session in Orlando and walked—yes, walked—across the stage to the loudest applause I have ever heard. His story is truly a measure of the success of what we do to help kids. Of course, there are many other patient success stories, but now I would like to turn to a remarkable achievement, the results of which were published October 1, 1998, in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A few short years ago, the Canadian Shriners Hospital, under the direction of Francis Glorieux, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Research (see photo above), initiated a study on the effects of a new drug that promises fresh hope for children born with a serious, sometimes fatal, bone disease. The disease is called osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease. Until this new treatment was developed, the only recourse offered the thousands of children who suffer from the disease was surgery to correct the deformities and frequent fractures. For the hundreds of children being treated in the study, the results are nothing short of spectacular. Not only have the patients’ bones gotten stronger, but even the pain has disappeared. Today, 16 of our 19 orthopaedic Shriners Hospitals are participating in the next phase of the study.
Shriners Hospitals’ research efforts extend to our burn facilities also. Not too long ago, investigators from the Boston Shriners Burn Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital collaborated to develop a system for objectively estimating the probability of death in patients with severe burn injuries. The formula, based on three risk factors, can help physicians, patients, and family members make decisions about the care of critically burned people. In addition, researchers testing new treatment approaches can target therapies to those patients who need them most. The availability of an objective system for estimating a patient’s chance of survival can be invaluable in helping everyone involved make decisions about care-related issues. Survival rates among burn patients today are so good that our burn hospitals can now concentrate much of their research on improving patients’ quality of life.
And then there is the ingenuity of several dedicated staff members at our Shriners Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, who study children’s gait, or manner of walking. In their state-of-the-art motion analysis lab, technicians found they could not get accurate data collection on a child using a standard walker during a gait analysis because it blocked the video cameras’ view of many of the reflective markers placed on the child’s body.
To resolve the
problem, the staff designed and built what is called a Universal Walker
(see photo right) that not only provides clear, wide-open views of the
reflective markers on a child, but also is instrumental in measuring upper
extremity movement.
While it is impossible for me to list all of the significant advances
that Shriners Hospitals for Children have made in recent years, it is important
for the public to understand that even though we provide very expensive,
specialized medical care, it is all done at no cost to the patients or
their families. To give you an idea of the costs involved in operating
our 22 orthopaedic and burn hospitals in the United States, Canada, and
Mexico, we will be spending a total of $490 million, or $1.342 million
per day, during this entire year. But thanks to our dedicated Shriners
and many friends of Shriners Hospitals over the more than 75 years that
our hospitals have been in existence, we have never had to charge a single
penny to the nearly 600,000 children who have been treated at our hospitals.
It is because of our great Shrine Fraternity that "The Tradition Continues...Shriners
Helping Kids." We have a long-standing tradition with the "World’s Greatest
Philanthropy"—one that I know every Shriner is proud to be a part of.
If you know a youngster with a problem of the bones, joints or muscles,
or a child who had been burned or has a spinal cord injury, the Shrine
stands ready to help.
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John C. Nobles, Imperial Potentate, the
Shrine of North America,
is from El Paso, Texas, and is Imperial Potentate of the Shrine of North America for the 1998-99 year. Raised a Master Mason in Palestine Lodge No. 31, Ill. Nobles is also affiliated with Fraternity Lodge No. 1111. He is a member of the York Rite, El Paso Chapter No. 157, R.A.M.; El Paso Council No. 98, R.&R.M.; El Paso Commandery No. 18, and Red Cross of Constantine. Bro. Nobles received his Scottish Rite Degrees in 1968 and is a Life Member of El Paso Valley. He became Master of Kadosh El Paso Consistory in 1976 and Venerable Master, El Paso Lodge of Perfection, in 1981. He served as Wise Master, Chapter of the Rose Croix, in 1989 and Commander of the Council of Kadosh in 1996. He was invested with the K.C.C.H. in 1977 and conferred the 33° in 1985. Ill. Nobles has been a member of the Benevolent Association for 28 years and was President of that association for three years. A Life Member of the Cabiri, he is also a member of the National Sojourners No. 74, M.I.P.; Heroes of ’76; Royal Order of Jesters Court No. 34; Order of Quetzacoatl, No. 9; and Societas Rosicruciana Texas College. |
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