Dr. Ira Zaltz, right, checks casts

on a patient in the Colombian

hospital where he volunteers.

-ra Zaltz travels t

E

very year for the past
seven years, Dr. Ira Zaltz
has taken a trip to
Colombia, South America. He goes
with a group for 10 days, but these
travelers are not tourists.
Instead they are performing mir-
acles. Representing the Silver
Service Children's Foundation,
these doctors donate time and

6 • APRIL 2005 • JNPLATINLJM

skills to do bone surgery on chil-
dren who otherwise would not
have access to the latest medical
approaches. The conditions they
correct include malformed arms
and legs, congenital hip disloca-
tions and the after-effects of infec-
tion.
"The organization sends teams
to Colombia four times a year,"

explains Dr. Zaltz, 40, a pediatric
orthopedic surgeon affiliated with
William Beaumont Hospital in
Royal Oak.
"Each team has at least four sur-
geons, residents and nurses. We
operate on 45 to 60 patients each
trip and maintain a close working
relationship with our medical col-
leagues in Colombia so they can

do the follow-up procedures."
Dr. Zaltz, who says the condi-
tions he sees can be very much
like those he treats in the United
States, began working with the
project when he was affiliated with
Hope Children's Hospital in
Chicago. He was invited by a doc-
tor heading up a team.
"I considered it an honor to be