University of Virginia Health System

CHINESE ORPHANS TO RECEIVE CRUCIAL SURGERY AT U.VA.

The children, ages 1 to 3, suffer craniofacial deformities and will undergo surgery beginning this week at U.Va., under the care of a team headed by Dr. Kant Lin, head of the Craniofacial Anomalies Center, plastic surgeon Dr. Thomas Gampper and pediatric anesthesiologist Dr. Terry Yemen. One of the children suffers a massive blood vessel tumor in her lip and jaw, which impedes her ability to eat.

The highly unusual arrangements for the children to visit the United States were made possible by a collaboration between The Grace Children's Foundation and government-run orphanages in China. It marks the first time a Chinese orphan group of this size, accompanied by five caregivers, has traveled to the United States. This is also the inaugural project of this nature for the New York-based Grace Children's Foundation, which was founded by Americans who have adopted Chinese babies and are working to help the children left behind.

The foundation was made aware of the five children through contacts in China and brought them to the United States last weekend, with air transport provided free by Northwest Airlines. Four of the children are from the orphanage in Luoyang, in northwest China, and one is from Beijing. They were brought to U.Va. by Dr. Andrew Woods, associate professor of anesthesiology, who has been involved for a number of years with humanitarian projects in China.

The U.Va. Health System, with the generous support of an anonymous donor, is providing the children's care through its Craniofacial Anomalies Center, which is nationally known for its evaluation and treatment of all craniofacial problems, including cleft lip and palate deformities.

We are pleased that the Health System can play a role in helping where there is such a great need, said Dr. Robert W. Cantrell, vice president and provost of the U.Va. Health System.

We are grateful to U.Va. and its hospital staff whose generosity and dedication will immeasurably improve the lives of these precious children, said Nancy Robertson, executive director of The Grace Children's Foundation. Without the assistance of U.Va., we would be unable to provide the help these children so desperately need.

Mrs. Robertson added, We hope the humanitarian spirit of U.Va. will serve as an inspiration for other American hospitals which can provide the services so critical to the orphan children we have waiting in China.

The Grace Children's Foundation also hopes that successful surgeries on this group of children will pave the way for future medical missions involving more severe conditions. This operation will help us draw attention to the pressing needs of these children and develop wider medical networks to meet their needs both in China and abroad, said Mrs. Robertson.

The Grace Children's Foundation was founded in 1997 to improve the lives of orphans in China. Nearly one million children live in these orphanages, nearly all of them girls, and most will never be adopted. The foundation's goal, supported by the appropriate Chinese authorities, is to link the orphans with existing outreach programs and to create new programs to improve the physical, educational and social well being of these children.

April 13, 2000