RWJBarnabas Health facilities provide free joint replacements

Dawn Furnas//December 11, 2024//

Miadea Esther Constance Ganda walks with her therapists a day after her knee replacement surgery at Monmouth Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility. - PROVIDED BY MIKEWORLDWIDE

Dawn Furnas//December 11, 2024//

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Monmouth Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, and Seaview Orthopaedics, a partner practice of RWJBarnabas, are giving the gift of mobility this holiday season.

This year, the two health care providers are the only two New Jersey facilities participating in Operation Walk USA, a nationwide initiative that provides free joint replacements to uninsured patients, RWJBarnabas announced Dec. 9.

This year’s recipients are Elizabeth Alaribe, a Nigerian native now living in Jamesburg, who received bilateral knee replacement surgery at MMC; and Miadea Esther Constance Ganda, a 70-year-old resident of Lake Katrine, N.Y., who has received two knee replacements through MMC and Seaview.

Along with Bridgewater-based JAG Physical Therapy, the facilities will also provide the patients with free physical therapy. Indiana-based Zimmer Biomet donated the implants for these procedures.

Dr. David Chalnick, who performed Alaribe’s surgery, is an orthopedic surgeon with Seaview Orthopaedics who serves as medical director of the Joint Replacement Surgery Program at MMC.

“For patients with advanced arthritis, knee and hip pain can be absolutely debilitating,” Chalnick said in a statement. “Joint replacement can be an opportunity for patients to get back to daily activities that many of us take for granted, such as simply taking a walk. Through Operation Walk USA, we are able to help patients who may otherwise be unable to receive such treatment to get back on their feet and reclaim their lives.”

Dr. David Chalnick, an orthopedic surgeon with Seaview Orthopaedics who serves as medical director of the Joint Replacement Surgery Program at Monmouth Medical Center, visits with Elizabeth Alaribe of Jamesburg before her surgery. – PROVIDED BY MIKEWORLDWIDE –

Dr. Joel Fechisin, an orthopedic surgeon with Seaview Orthopaedics and MMC, who is performing Ganda’s surgery, said the procedures “are not just about relieving pain; they’re about restoring hope and improving overall quality of life.”

Along with MMC, the 2022-2023 participating sites included AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Pomona and Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro, according to the Operation Walk USA website.

MMC also recently received a Healthgrades Excellence Award in Outpatient Joint Replacement.