MJM Docs Have a Mission

SEATTLE – Physicians often hear the same patient complaints day after day.  Wait times are too long.  Parking is a problem.  The cost of health care keeps rising.  But, what if your patient had to save several years to purchase a bus ticket for a three day dusty road trip to see a doctor that will only be available for a week or so each year?    

Two physicians from Seattle tend to patients exactly like this.  Minor & James Medical doctors John Burgoyne and Dick Hoistad fly to impoverished communities in the third world to provide medical care for those who can’t afford it or may not even have access to health care otherwise. 

“We feel we have an obligation and a sense of duty to participate in these programs,” says Dr. John Burgoyne, department chair of otolaryngology at Minor & James Medical, a multi-specialty clinic in Seattle.  “It’s not only a chance to share our training with other communities, but also a chance to change lives.” 

Dr. Burgoyne works through Surgical Medical Assistance Relief Teams (SMART).  He travels two to three times a year to Honduras to provide surgical support for the community.  While there he performs surgeries including outer ear reconstructions, thyroid surgeries and tracheal reconstructions.  SMART networks with missionaries in the area to find the patients most in need of their services. 

“They do have talented doctors and workable hospitals in Honduras,” says Burgoyne.  “But the access is poor, leaving many people without adequate care.” 

Dr. John Burgoyne checks on a patient with his daughter Genevieve at his side.

Dr. Hoistad performs surgery at a clinic in Ecuador.

 

Dr. Hoistad works with his colleague and friend Dr. Edwin Moreano, a New York City plastic surgeon, who founded the Medical Mission to the Middle of the World.  Each year, Dr. Hoistad travels to Latin America to provide free surgeries to those in need.  He’s been to Ecuador and The Dominican Republic.    

Hoistad says, “It’s personally rewarding, but also incredibly humbling.  You cannot find a more human experience and words cannot describe the appreciation of the patients and families.” 

Both Hoistad and Burgoyne talk of experiences of showing up to clinics and lines being around the block, full of patients waiting to be seen. 

"There is a tremendous feeling of happiness when you can improve the life of someone on such a personal basis," says Burgoyne.