International Surgical Mission Support, Inc. is the East End’s International Ambassador for Health .
International Surgical Mission Support (ISMS) is a team of dedicated medical personnel which includes a general surgeon, a thoracic surgeon, an orthopedic surgical staff, a plastic surgeon, an intensive care doctor, and an anesthesia and nursing staff. This year it responded to the disaster in Haiti and has conducted surgical missions in Mexico, Honduras, Brazil, Peru, India, Vietnam, Nepal, Nicaragua, Zambia, and Haiti and Egypt
Community Roots
ISMS was founded in 1996 by Medhat Allam, MD, Ravi Kothuru, MD, and Robert Mineo, CRNA in Southampton, New York and is composed primarily of medical personnel serving Peconic Bay Medical Center, Eastern Long Island Hospital and Southampton Hospital. These three hospitals form the East End Health Alliance which is affiliated with Stony Brook University Hospital.
Branches
International Surgical Mission Support now has two other chapters. The first is ISMS: Operation Kids that launched its first mission to Morocco in May of 2008. Most recently, a specialized chapter for ophthalmology was added and ISMS: Operation Restore Vision conducted its first mission trip in 2009.
Sacrifice and Surgery
ISMS pay all its own expenses, including airfare, housing, and food. It purchases medicine, medical supplies, diagnostic and surgical tools, and medical equipment which on most occasions, as in Haiti recently, are left behind. All of the money comes out of their own pockets or the pockets of their friends and families. ISMS estimates that it costs approximately $250 per surgical intervention and it screens hundreds of patients on each mission trip.