Milestones

2012

  • First amputee fitted with a prosthesis at the Haiti workshop
  • Prosthetics Outreach Foundation and Cure International co-sponsor the 2nd Sierra Leone National Clubfoot Program Training

2011

  • Nationwide clubfoot treatment program launched in Vietnam
  • Prosthetics workshop renovated and equipped in Haiti at a government hospital
  • Evaluation and training of Sri Lankan prosthetists in local manufacturing of prosthetic feet
  • Ongoing technical assistance for the national clubfoot program and prosthetics workshop in Sierra Leone
  • Supported clubfoot treatment clinics in Bangladesh

2010

  • Training Vietnamese surgeons in orthopedic surgery
  • Teaching Sierra Leonean technicians in the casting of children with clubfoot
  • Establishing regional treatment centers for children with clubfoot in Bangladesh
  • Laying the groundwork for the opening of a physical rehabilitation center in northern Haiti
  • Expanding an ambitious initiative in Vietnam to make treatment available to children with clubfoot throughout the country

2009

  • Kendall Barker Rehabilitation Building dedicated in Makeni, Sierra Leone
  • Prosthetics program launced in Liberia
  • Nancy C. Nelson and Dan Fender complete cross-country bicycle ride — “Three Legs Across America” — to benefit amputees in Vietnam
  • Dr. Thomas Boyer climbs Mt. Everest to raise awareness for POF
  • POF celebrates 20th anniversary

2008

  • Clubfoot casting program launched in Vietnam

2005

  • POF fits first African amputee with an artificial limb in Sierra Leone, West Africa
  • Memorandum of Understanding signed with Sierra Leonean Ministry of Health and Sanitation to build new prosthetics center in Makeni
  • Joint project field office established in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with Single Leg Amputee Sports Club
  • Nancy C. Nelson and Dan Fender begin first year of cross-country bicycle ride — “Three Legs Across America” — to benefit amputees in Vietnam

2004

  • 417 children and adult amputees in Vietnam receive prosthetic care, mostly through mobile outreach to remote mountain provinces
  • CNN features POF’s work in Vietnam
  • POF’s EB-1 Foot made in Vietnam top rated in comparative artificial foot study by International Society for Prosthetics & Orthotics (100% survival rate after 18 months)
  • POF celebrates 15th anniversary

2003

  • First annual POF-AOFAS orthopedic surgical symposium held in Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Vietnamese amputee runner wins three gold medals with POF prosthesis during ASEAN Para-Games

2002

  • POF starts orthopedic surgical assistance project in Vietnam in partnership with the American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS); first 45 Vietnamese disabled children and adults treated
  • POF begins manufacturing orthotic components in Vietnam with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development
  • Peter and Asher Springs from Anacortes, WA, hike 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada to raise funds for prosthetic care of amputees in Vietnam
  • Grand opening of Nalta Hospital Prosthetics & Orthotics Center in southwestern Bangladesh

2001

  • Prosthetics Outreach Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, celebrates 10-year anniversary; served more than 12,000 amputees

2000

  • POF expands activities to Bangladesh, assisting with planning and building of a prosthetics and orthotics center in Nalta, southwestern Bangladesh
  • Passing of Dr. Burgess (September 27, 2000)
  • President Clinton visits with POF patient in Vietnam during the first U.S. head of state visit to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War

1999

  • CNC Machining Department established at the Ba Vi component factory; results in increased production capacity and manufacturing quality
  • POF helps upgrade prosthetics workshops in three Vietnamese provinces

1998

  • Dedication of refurbished orthopedic component factory in Ba Vi, Vietnam, by U.S. Ambassador Peterson and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs
  • Production of EB-1 Foot begins

1997

  • POF helps Our Lady of Victory Training Center in Mindanao, Philippines, establish an automated prosthetics center
  • POF trains Mercy Ship staff on the use of the automated prosthetic fabrication equipment

1996

  • POF helps upgrade Vietnamese orthopedic component factory in Ba Vi to accelerate local prosthetic component manufacturing
  • POF assists Mercy Ships with integrating automated prosthetic fabrication equipment into a containerized prosthetics workshop; the workshop is sent to Leon, Nicaragua

1995

  • Opening of the Prosthetics Outreach Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, to replace original facility

1994

  • Final shipment of U.S. prosthetic components to Vietnam; transition to in-country prosthetic component manufacturing

1992

  • POF begins mobile prosthetic outreach in Vietnam to bring prosthetic services to amputees in rural, remote areas

1991

  • Dedication of first prosthetics center in Hanoi, Vietnam. Installation of automated prosthetic fabrication equipment

1989

  • Ernest M. Burgess, MD (1911-2000) founds POF



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