Our Story

WalkStrong Foundation

Est. 2008

The WalkStrong Foundation is a nonprofit medical humanitarian organization started by Dr. Michael Christie, an orthopedic surgeon in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2008. From the beginning, the goal of WalkStrong was to create sustainable total joint replacement programs in underserved communities in low and middle-income countries.

THE FOUR PILLARS

01 SERVICE

02 EDUCATION

03 INFRASTRUCTURE

04 COMMITMENT

The combination of high quality, low cost implants, well-trained local surgeons, infrastructure support, and outcomes tracking is the best way to improve access to the life-changing benefit of joint replacement across the world.

Our First Trip

Hospital de Alta Especialidad

Veracruz, Mexico in 2009

When we first arrived in Veracruz, no instruments in this major referral hospital would pass the most lenient US sterility standards, making it impossible to safely do joint replacement.

Now, after intensive training and infrastructure support, (a $100,000 steam sterilizer, instrument caskets, sterility markers, and instrument wrapping paper) US standards are routinely met. Every surgical patient in the hospital has benefited from the use of sterile instruments. Nursing has also improved. After 2 years of working side by side with our teams, the orthopedic unit is considered the best nursing unit in the hospital.

In Veracruz, WalkStrong has performed 92 knee replacements and has another 127 scheduled. We have sent three 60- foot semitrailers of needed medical equipment to Veracruz.

With our partner Project Cure, our volunteers collected, categorized and packed the equipment. They loaded the semitrailer and then flew to Veracruz to help unpack and store the contents. This includes OR tables, and lights, sterlizers, hospital beds, incubators, instruments and power equipment. We are currently collecting equipment for the fourth trailer.