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Project Health
Member Spotlight
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Project Health
Success Stories
There are some amazing success stories of people who just needed help to get healthy. Many have found better jobs WITH health insurance benefits. Project Health volunteer physicians have saved the lives of several people who were just days or weeks away from dying without surgery.
Alicia D’Alessio
Alicia D’Alessio sustained severe facial fractures in an accident. Her jaw and cheekbones were broken and the bones around one eye were crushed so badly that she was in danger of losing the eye when Richard Balikian, MD. Of Meridian Plastic Surgeons stepped in. “They wired me back together and did everything through the mouth so there were no external stitches,” she says. “It was an absolute miracle.
James McConkey
James McConkey went from being a complete stranger, to getting an MRI, followed by brain surgery in one day. Aaron Cohen-Gadol, MD, from the Indianapolis Neurosurgical Group found not one, but two egg-sized tumors in the frontal lobe of James’ brain which would have been fatal had there been a delay in treatment. “Everyone treated me like I was the most important person on earth”, says James. “I can’t tell you what it means to a person when you are uninsured, have a life-threatening emergency and don’t know where to turn. A millionaire wouldn’t have been treated any better or faster.”
Rosa Cozzarelli
Rosa Cozzarelli was going blind because of a corneal defect called Fuch’s Dystrophy. Michael Behforouz, MD, volunteered to do a corneal transplant, St. Vincent Hospital donated all of their services; Northside Anesthesiology donated their services. The Lion’s Eye Bank and Prevent Blindness Indiana secured the cornea, and the country’s first totally-donated corneal transplant was performed here in Indianapolis. The story made CNN Headline News that evening. Rosa now lives independently.
Hallie Day
Hallie Day’s ophthalmologist suspected she had multiple sclerosis because of the breakdown of protein sheaths that protect the nerves in her eyes. JWM Neurology confirmed this. The drugs she needed to slow down the progression of MS cost $24,000/year. Project Health helped Hallie apply to Rx for Indiana and now she received her needed medications FREE. “I had lost my job because I missed work so often. So I had no job, no money, no health insurance and no hope until Project Health came to the rescue,” says Hallie. “Hallie is one of our favorite patients,” says John Miller, MD, her family doctor, “because despite all of her problems – she has the best attitude of anybody I’ve ever seen.”
Blanca Garcia
Blanca Garcia, a divorced mother of 2 had a congenital hole in her heart which just kept getting worse and worse, threatening her life. She had no pulses from her groin down to her toes. Project Health phoned CorVasc and David Heimansohn, MD scheduled her for an appointment in his office at 7 a.m. the next day – before office hours. She had open heart surgery to repair the hole in her heart. Now Blanca says for the first time in her life she can take a deep breath, her hands and feet are no longer cold and blue, and she has plenty of energy to get through her workday and take care of her two boys.
Scott Newcomer
Scott Newcomer was referred to Project Health because he had severe disc compression in his neck and was in constant severe pain. He had also been laid off because of absences at work. Rick Sasso, MD, agreed to see him and operated just a few days later. Now Scott is pain free for the first time in a decade, found a better job and with more pay, AND HEALTH BENEFITS!