Laura Downey Wood, PA-C, MPAS has been a physician assistant at University of Utah Health for the past 17 years, so she’s uniquely qualified to understand the power of teamwork. Wood has worked for the last nine years at University Orthopaedic Center on the adult hip and knee reconstruction team with Jeremy Gililland, MD.
In March 2024, Wood and Gililland traveled to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as part of Operation Walk Carolinas, a nationwide program where surgeons, physician assistants, anesthesiologists, nurses, and physical therapists visit underserved countries to perform knee replacements. It was founded by the late Lawrence Dorr, MD, in 1996, to bring restored mobility to all corners of the world.
For three days, four operating rooms were used by four surgeons and care teams as they completed 55 total knee replacements in a local hospital.
Many of the patients had been waiting years to have their painful arthritic joint conditions remedied by knee replacements. The waiting list extended to about 1,500 names.
In Honduras, just 500 total knee replacements are done each year. For comparison, in the United States, close to 800,000 are done each year.
“It was an incredibly rewarding experience,” Wood said. “Helping these people really puts things into perspective. I’m so grateful for an opportunity to give back and see the impact it makes in their lives and their family’s lives.”
Like she does each day in Salt Lake City, Wood made an immeasurable difference in the lives of her patients in Honduras.
“I love helping people get back to being functional and happy in life,” she said.
Wood will return this year again in a different role: trying to learn the ins and outs of the whole operation to hopefully start an Operation Walk chapter here at the University of Utah. As of now, many of the staff on the hip and knee reconstruction team at U of U Health have been on Operation Walk with different chapters.
“We would love to start something here as a way to give back year after year,” Wood says.