© 2008 Cronin & Brauer
Operation San Jose is a volunteer, goodwill program created to assist in the surgical correction for patients with cleft lip and palate deformities in developing countries. The program is funded by CHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare and through private donations.
The program was founded in 1983 by Dr. Ernest D. Cronin, M.D., who serves as the Medical Director. Dr. Cronin is Board Certified in Plastic Surgery. In addition, Dr. Cronin is the Medical Director of the Thomas D. Cronin and Raymond O. Bauer Cleft Palate and Clinic. The clinic functions as a CHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare entity and serves to provide children here at home the opportunity of receiving facial reconstructive surgery. Operation San Jose was created as an extension of this clinic to provide children abroad the opportunity of receiving this highly specialized surgery.
The Operation San Jose team travels with all surgical equipment and supplies, including sutures, anesthetics, instruments, headlights, pulse oximeters, cauteries, gowns, etc., to minimize the host hospital’s financial burden.
The objectives of Operation San Jose are threefold:
1. First and foremost, the program provides medical and surgical intervention for children suffering from cleft lip and cleft palate deformities throughout Latin America.
2. It is an academic exchange of ideas between the members of Operation San Jose and the host medical personnel, including plastic surgeons, residents, nurses, speech therapists, orthodontists, etc., for sharing and learning advanced medical techniques. Each trip is always at the invitation of the local medical society in the host country and serves to promote international goodwill.
3. It provides additional educational experience that the senior plastic surgery residents receive by working with these patients under the direct and close supervision of a faculty member.
In order for Operation San Jose to take place in a given country in Latin America, we must receive a formal written invitation by the local medical host doctor and visiting hospital.
Operation San Jose believes in having local staff and resident participation in the active exchange of ideas for the treatment of cleft lip and palate patients. The team follows the highest ethical standards as set by their national plastic surgery society and their local medical board. Typically, the team will arrive to a given country on Saturday. On Sunday, the pre-operative evaluation is made and a busy tentative surgery schedule is created. All patients undergoing surgery must have a pre-operative evaluation, including lab studies. On average, approximately 40 patients are operated in five days. Two operating rooms run simultaneously. In each room, visiting and local plastic surgery residents and staff are closely supervised by a faculty member. A complete operative report with diagrams is included in the patient’s chart along with post operative indications for follow-up care.
Operation San Jose has been conducted successfully for the past 25 years in eight Latin American countries. Over 900 patients have received surgical treatment and hundreds more have received consultations thorough this volunteer goodwill program. Our biggest reward has been the satisfaction of seeing patients of different ages get their surgical reconstruction encountering minimal or no complications.
Operation San Jose does not perform extensive or multiple stage procedures. No operation is performed without basic surgical equipment. Patient safety and well-being has always been the primary concern.
Our program is completely humanitarian, free of cost to the visiting country, altruistic and caring, which represent the mission of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word through CHRISTUS Health and the CHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare.
For additional information regarding Operation San Jose, or to schedule a visit by our Operation San Jose tam members, please contact Dr. Ernest D. Cronin, M.D. or Leticia Reyes Lopez, Program Coordinator for this project at the following address:
Ernest D. Cronin, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Founder and Medical
Director
(713) 951-0400
Leticia Reyes Lopez
Program Coordinator
Operation San Jose Project
& Cronin & Brauer Cleft
Palate Clinic
1315 St. Joseph Parkway,
Suite 920
Houston, TX 77002
Tel. (713) 756-4041
Fax: (713) 756-4414
leticia.lopez@christushealth.org