Surgical Outreach for the Americas

Surgical Outreach for the Americas Surgical Outreach for the Americas
Founded September 13, 2012
Co-Founders
Peggy Frisella, RN and Brent D.

Surgical Outreach for the Americas is a nonprofit organization that provides surgical serivces to the underserved in the developing countries of North, Central and South America. Matthews, MD

Mission Statement:
Surgical Outreach for the Americas is a nonprofit organization that provides surgical services to the underserved in the developing countries of North, Central and South America. SUMMARY:
Millions of people are in extreme need of compassionate health care throughout the world. In 2009, motivated out of deep personal faith and a sincere humanitarian interest, a team of healthcare providers was assembled by Brent Matthews, MD, Chairman of Surgery at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) in Raleigh, NC, and Peggy Frisella RN, Manager of Research Operations at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, with the necessary professional, culturally sensitive and personal skills to effectively serve a unique group of underserved people from the campos (rural countryside communities) in the Dominican Republic. January 2014 marked the sixth year that our surgical team traveled to the Dominican Republic to perform outpatient surgeries, primarily hernia repairs, for the underserved. The people in the Dominican Republic that we serve are primarily farmers or day laborers. Their agrarian lifestyle requires daily physical activity which can lead to abdominal wall hernias for many. This results in physical disability and an immeasurable hindrance to familial and/or community sustainability because this population of Dominicans does not have access to any organized healthcare let alone specialized services such as surgery. In December, 2013, we received our 501c3 non-profit determination from the IRS for our newly formed organization, “Surgical Outreach for the Americas” (SOFA) (https://surgicaloutreach.org/dir) . We are now able to expand our vision of bringing surgical services to a greater number of people. The need for the services we provide in the Dominican Republic is similar throughout Central and South America, due to the agrarian lifestyle of the people. It is our hope to expand our surgical outreach, primarily hernia repair, to those in need, by increasing the number of humanitarian missions each year in an effort to reach as many as possible. Our team is comprised of surgeons, resident general surgeons, support physicians, certified registered nurse anesthetists, registered nurses, and additional staff for preoperative assessment and preparation, operating room circulators, sterile processing and postanesthesia recovery. Several of the members of our mission team are fluent in Spanish, personalizing the patient-healthcare provider relationship. Our group has regular strategic planning meetings to discuss team efficiency, infrastructure needs and equipment inventory. Our goal remains steadfast to continue to increase our operative and clinic efficiency to reach as many patients as possible while maintaining the highest standards of clinical care. As this mission is realized, the patients we serve as well as the members of our healthcare team will personally benefit from these unique humanitarian experiences.

10/30/2025
Punta Gorda Belize: the last group needed to make these trips happen is the non-medical support. Diane Carter is our w...
10/30/2025

Punta Gorda Belize: the last group needed to make these trips happen is the non-medical support. Diane Carter is our warehouse manager. She makes sure that we have all of the equipment and supplies needed. It’s no easy task. Shipments need to go out months before we leave. And our carry on supplies fill a dozen suitcases. She makes it happen- every time! Wes Vega is instrumental in putting our surgical schedule together and ensuring that patients are ready to go. His ability to translate is a huge added bonus. Mike Cooper, Jaime Greisedieck and Kathy Wennemann have the primary task of managing the surgical instruments. Each kit has 32 instruments that need to be cleaned and sterilized after each surgery. In addition, this crew will find and/or fix anything needed during the week. And finally- la jefa Peggy Frisella. Her passion for this organization is boundless. As is her energy. Bravo!

Punta Gorda Belize: Dr Gladys Tse focused on women’s health in this very underserved country. Along with Dr. Amanda Ma...
10/27/2025

Punta Gorda Belize: Dr Gladys Tse focused on women’s health in this very underserved country. Along with Dr. Amanda Masse (a GYN resident), they visited several clinics in the Toledo district of Southern Belize. They provided much needed exams, Pap smears, etc to the local women here. Bravo!

10/26/2025

Trivia Night is sold out! Can’t wait to see you all on Dec 5! It’s going to be better than ever!

Our surgical team starts evaluating patients on Sunday. A schedule is put together- but it changes throughout the week ...
10/25/2025

Our surgical team starts evaluating patients on Sunday. A schedule is put together- but it changes throughout the week as needed. Surgeries start on Monday morning. The patients arrive, are prepped, have their surgery, recover and head home… all in a day! On Friday, we wrap up the surgeries mid-day and then pack up to return to the USA.
On this trip, our Surgeons were Drs. Tom Wade, Ed Kreimeier, Brent Matthews and our fabulous resident Ife Okereke. Our OR Nurses were Shona Scott and Eileen Griesedieck. Our Anesthesia team was Sara Franco and Jill Stulce. And our Recovery team was Anna Wyman and Jean Bundren.

Last week we were in Punta Gorda Belize. The surgical team performed over 50 surgeries. The gynecology team provided va...
10/23/2025

Last week we were in Punta Gorda Belize. The surgical team performed over 50 surgeries. The gynecology team provided various treatments to over 60 women. Over the next few days, we’ll show you how we did it.

Keith Ady and the Wash U WISE Lab techs shipped three laparoscopic surgical towers to Belize last week. The goal is to e...
10/07/2025

Keith Ady and the Wash U WISE Lab techs shipped three laparoscopic surgical towers to Belize last week. The goal is to enhance the adoption of Laparoscopic surgery. Our partners, Dr. Domenech Asbun and Dr. Gregory Arana, will spearhead this program along with SOfA support and involvement. A great day for everyone!

To all of our great donors out there - we are in search of a large, solid hard side suitcase to transport supplies to an...
09/23/2025

To all of our great donors out there - we are in search of a large, solid hard side suitcase to transport supplies to and from our trips. Please share this and thank you in advance! We ask and you always come through!

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12211 Blackheath Court
St. Louis, MO
63141

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Surgical Outreach for the Americas Founded September 13, 2012 Co-Founders Peggy Frisella, RN and Brent D. Matthews, MD Mission Statement: Surgical Outreach for the Americas is a nonprofit organization that provides surgical services to the underserved in the developing countries of North, Central and South America. SUMMARY: Millions of people are in extreme need of compassionate health care throughout the world. In 2009, motivated out of deep personal faith and a sincere humanitarian interest, a team of healthcare providers was assembled by Brent Matthews, MD, Chairman of Surgery at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) in Raleigh, NC, and Peggy Frisella RN, Manager of Research Operations at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, with the necessary professional, culturally sensitive and personal skills to effectively serve a unique group of underserved people from the campos (rural countryside communities) in the Dominican Republic. January 2014 marked the sixth year that our surgical team traveled to the Dominican Republic to perform outpatient surgeries, primarily hernia repairs, for the underserved. The people in the Dominican Republic that we serve are primarily farmers or day laborers. Their agrarian lifestyle requires daily physical activity which can lead to abdominal wall hernias for many. This results in physical disability and an immeasurable hindrance to familial and/or community sustainability because this population of Dominicans does not have access to any organized healthcare let alone specialized services such as surgery. In December, 2013, we received our 501c3 non-profit determination from the IRS for our newly formed organization, “Surgical Outreach for the Americas” (SOFA) (https://surgicaloutreach.org/dir) . We are now able to expand our vision of bringing surgical services to a greater number of people. The need for the services we provide in the Dominican Republic is similar throughout Central and South America, due to the agrarian lifestyle of the people. It is our hope to expand our surgical outreach, primarily hernia repair, to those in need, by increasing the number of humanitarian missions each year in an effort to reach as many as possible. Our team is comprised of surgeons, resident general surgeons, support physicians, certified registered nurse anesthetists, registered nurses, and additional staff for preoperative assessment and preparation, operating room circulators, sterile processing and postanesthesia recovery. Several of the members of our mission team are fluent in Spanish, personalizing the patient-healthcare provider relationship. Our group has regular strategic planning meetings to discuss team efficiency, infrastructure needs and equipment inventory. Our goal remains steadfast to continue to increase our operative and clinic efficiency to reach as many patients as possible while maintaining the highest standards of clinical care. As this mission is realized, the patients we serve as well as the members of our healthcare team will personally benefit from these unique humanitarian experiences.