Shriners Hospital for Children Treats 155 Children at Biggest Outreach Clinic

by Martha E. Ibarra/LFN

Shriners Hospital for Children- Houston (SHC) held their first outreach clinic of 2018 in La Feria. For three days, March 7,8 and 9, doctors, nurses and members of the Shriners Club joined forces to host their annual outreach clinic for children with orthopedic and neuromusculoskeletal conditions as well as cleft lip and palette abnormalities.

“We are here for three days and our goal is just to look at different kids with orthopedic conditions,” said Armand Viscarri, a public relations assistant for Shriners Hospital.

“We bring the whole team out here- prosthetics, orthotics, radiology, etc.- we have been doing these clinics for about 15 years now. We bring the staff down from Houston to come down here and help some of the kiddos,” added Viscarri.

Throughout the year, Shriners hosts clinics like this one all over the state of Texas. According to Viscarri, out of all the clinics Shriners hosts, La Feria’s is the biggest. Families from all around the Valley, and even parts of Northern Mexico, attend these clinics to get their children the proper medical attention they require due to their illnesses.

Shriners goal is to help and treat children despite the families ability to pay.

“We have been doing this for a long time… the goal is just to help kids. If they have a condition we can treat, we do everything regardless of the family’s ability to pay. If they do have insurance we will accept insurance but if not, it’s okay. We’ll take care of it,” shared Viscarri.

Over 150 children were treated throughout the span of three days. Ariana Rodriguez has been taking her 12 year old daughter, Paola, to these clinics for the past 10 years. While Paola still does not have an exact diagnosis of her condition, her mother is still grateful for the help and treatment her daughter receives. Rodriguez says that Shriners Hospital has helped her and her daughter so much and she hopes that more families are able to find out about these clinics so that they can be helped too.

Viscarri says that more clinics like this one will be held in La Feria in June, September and December. For more information on the services SHC provides, visit shrinershospitalforchildren.org/houston or call 713-797-1616.