For years, while living in Honduras, Pablo Ramos was a familiar figure in his town, serving as mayor for more than a decade and helping to bring safe drinking water to villages in the area. Known to family and friends as “Don Pablo,” he had always put the needs of others before his own, so he was a man of little means.
In 2015, he was diagnosed with mucosal melanoma — a rare and aggressive type of cancer. By then, Ramos was living with his daughter in Silver Spring, Md. He was referred to the Health Care Network, a program of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington that provides specialized pro bono medical services to low-income and uninsured patients.
Now, following radiation treatments, chemotherapy and several surgeries, Ramos, 81, is cancer-free. Sharing his story with the help of an interpreter, Ramos says without Catholic Charities and its Health Care Network, “Estaría descansando en paz. (I would be resting in peace.) They are the voice of people without a voice and the hope of people with no hope.”
As the Health Care Network celebrates its 40th anniversary, Ramos is among thousands of patients who have received life-changing care from volunteer medical specialists practicing at three D.C. area hospitals — MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Sibley Memorial Hospital and Suburban Hospital. The hospitals cover the costs of services that can include surgery, cancer treatments and expensive diagnostic tests such as MRIs.
On March 6, the Health Care Network will honor its volunteers with a morning reception at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
Esperanza Abarca, manager of the network, says the specialists provide “valuable services that can mean the difference between life and death. They offer a second chance for most of our patients.”
For the 2024 fiscal year, the pro-bono contribution of the specialists and hospitals was $10.6 million. Patients pay $25 per visit to a specialist and $50 for a service such as an MRI or CT scan. Otherwise, all of the medical services are free for patients.
Since the Health Care Network was established in 1984, about 70,000 patients have received services. The network’s 305 volunteer specialists provide care in a range of about 35 areas that include oncology, gynecology, ophthalmology, radiology and orthopedics, among others.
The majority of patients are treated for cancer or undergo orthopedic procedures such as hip and knee replacements.
Abarca says often those who are uninsured don’t seek treatment because they can’t afford to pay for medical help. Abarca recalls the story of a young man, just 25 years old, who was not a patient of the Health Care Network. He had no medical insurance and died of complications from kidney stones — a treatable condition — because he never sought care.
Making Sure All Patients Receive the Best Possible Care
Dr. Susan Pankratz first started seeing Ramos prior to his cancer diagnosis, while she was working as a primary care physician for Catholic Charities DC. She always enjoyed seeing the slight, kind-hearted man, and his daughter, Aracely, who accompanied him to his appointments.
“When I understood the extent of the disease, where it was, and what would have to happen to contain it, I wasn’t very hopeful,” says Pankratz, who now works at the Care for Your Health clinic, one of 25 community health clinics in the D.C. metropolitan area that refer about 300 patients monthly to the Health Care Network.
The melanoma was located at the back of Ramos’ throat — an unusual spot for a cancer that’s usually found on the skin. The cancer had metastasized to a lymph node and both the soft and hard palates on the roof of his mouth.
Referred by Pankratz to the Health Care Network, Ramos was accepted as a patient in Georgetown’s oncology department. Initially he received two cycles of an immunotherapy drug used to treat cancer and five treatments of radiation therapy. Over the course of his treatment at Georgetown, he has had biopsies, MRIs, and PET and CT scans, as needed.
In remission in 2016 and 2017, Ramos’ cancer returned in early 2019. He continued receiving chemotherapy, and in January 2020, underwent a surgical procedure called debridement that included the removal of dead or infected tissue.
He also received 12 of 40 planned hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments, breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber to bolster healing, until the treatments were paused because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Finally, he was cancer free, but he was experiencing excruciating pain resulting from the disintegration of his jawbone, often a side effect of radiation treatment for head and neck cancers. He was seen by Georgetown otolaryngologists Dr. Timothy DeKlotz and Dr. Jonathan Giurintano – ear, nose and throat specialists who are trained in both medicine and surgery.
DeKlotz performed a mandibulectomy, which involves the removal of part or all of the lower jawbone or mandible. In October 2020, Giurintano performed what’s known as a fibula free flap reconstruction — a very complicated surgery that involves using part of the fibula or calf bone to rebuild the jaw after a mandibulectomy.
Giurintano, who started serving as a volunteer around the time he joined the medical staff of Georgetown in 2018, describes Ramos as “a wonderful man, a gem of a person.”
Prior to the surgery, Giurintano met with a computer engineer. While examining Ramos’ CAT scans, they planned the entire operation in advance on a computer-designed jawbone, figuring out where cuts should be made in the fibula and the jawbone, calculating “down to the precise millimeter” how long the bone segments should be, says Giurintano.
Their virtual surgical planning shaved an hour or so off what turned out to be an almost 12-hour procedure, he says.
Health Care Network patients receive the same level of care as patients who have the best possible health insurance, says Giurintano. “It’s a shame that we live in one of the wealthiest countries in human history and still we have patients who struggle” for even basic health care.
“At the end of the day, it’s our duty and should be our passion to make sure all of our patients receive the best possible health care,” he says. “It doesn’t matter who you are or how much you have in the way of financial resources.”
Because of volunteers like DeKlotz and Giurintano, Ramos has resumed the life he enjoyed prior to his diagnosis — washing dishes, listening to the radio, watching soccer games, and fixing eggs, refried beans and fried plantains for breakfast.
A Godsend for the Uninsured
The Health Care Network was created by the late Cardinal James Hickey, who served as archbishop of Washington from 1980 to 2000. Cardinal Hickey’s father was a dentist who treated patients unable to pay for dental care during the Great Depression.
Concerned about the plight of the unhoused and medically uninsured in the D.C. area, Cardinal Hickey gathered a group of Catholic physicians in 1983 to study the problem. Later, a steering committee assessed the needs of nonprofit clinics serving the uninsured in Northwest Washington, learning that they didn’t have enough specialists to care for those with serious medical conditions.
The committee sent a questionnaire to all Catholic physicians in the archdiocese, asking if they’d be willing to volunteer their services. Initially, 140 physicians responded. The Health Care Network was launched in August 1984, with Sister Mary Louise Wessell serving as a part-time coordinator. Within months, the number of volunteers grew to 200.
Sister Mary Louise, who has held several jobs at Catholic Charities, now serves as a volunteer ethics trainer for the agency’s staff. “The Health Care Network is a godsend for people who otherwise would fall through the cracks,” she says.
A Ministry of Healing and Presence
In keeping with Catholic Charities’ mission of providing services with care and compassion, the Health Care Network staff and volunteers “are with patients every step of the way on their journey,” says Sister Romana Uzodimma, HHCJ, who ran the network for seven years.
Sister Romana, who now serves as director of quality assurance for Catholic Charities’ Adult and Children Clinical Services, says: “The Health Care Network is both a ministry of healing and a ministry of presence. Just as Christ was present for brothers and sisters in need, so are we.”
In 2019, a 25-year-old woman diagnosed with synovial sarcoma (a rare malignant cancer of the soft tissues) was referred to the Health Care Network for an urgent oncology evaluation. She needed radiation and chemotherapy, but she had no medical insurance.
The Health Care Network connected her with MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, where she underwent surgery and had numerous sessions of inpatient chemotherapy, radiation treatment, and physical therapy as well as imaging and other services.
In a note last March to the Health Care Network, the patient, now cancer free, thanked those who had helped her during “the most difficult moments of my life,” assisting her with referrals and appointments and supporting her emotionally.
“I knocked on many doors and the only one that was able to help me was the (Health Care Network),” she wrote. “Thank you very much for never leaving me alone during those difficult moments.”
- Medstar Georgetown University Hospital specialists see the majority of patients. The Health Care Network referred 915 patients to Georgetown over the network’s 40-year history; 212 received services.
- Sibley Memorial Hospital: 172 referrals; 125 received services. Most of the patients seen at Sibley receive radiology services.
- Suburban Hospital: 10 referrals; 10 received services. All of the patients seen at Suburban undergo surgeries for orthopedic and ear, nose and throat issues.
How You Can Get Involved: Make a gift to the Health Care Network. Volunteer.