Our Stories
Free of Pain After Free Surgery
 Isa with Robin Ridenour, KP South San Francisco Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, who has been an Operation Access volunteer since 2000. |
When James Johnson, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco, met 29-year-old Isa, he quickly recognized a rare condition that had been causing her severe hand pain for five years—restricting Isa's life and leading to the loss of her job.
Dr. Johnson ordered tests for Isa that confirmed the presence of a glomus tumor—a rare condition that he had only encountered a few times in his 30-year career
What makes this Kaiser Permanente story a little different is that Isa doesn't have health insurance.
On May 2, Dr. Johnson removed Isa's tumor at Kaiser Permanente—free of charge. He treated Isa as a medical volunteer for Operation Access, a nonprofit that coordinates donated surgeries for people without health insurance at 26 Bay Area medical centers, including Kaiser Permanente's South San Francisco Medical Center and 10 other Kaiser Permanente facilities, which donate their facilities and supplies.
Dr. Johnson was one of 17 Kaiser Permanente physicians and staff who volunteered their services that Saturday to Isa and three other uninsured patients.
Kaiser Permanente supports Operation Access through our Community Benefit Programs and through the volunteer efforts of 540 Kaiser Permanente physicians and medical staff—who make up over 80 percent of OA's 662 medical volunteers.
"We couldn't do it without Kaiser Permanente," said Operation Access Executive Director Ben Aune.
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