Dr. Jon Tyrell’s free surgery day June 12

Arcadia surgeon Dr. Jon Tyrell of Methodist Hospital spent his Saturday (Jan. 12) performing free surgery at Arcadia Outpatient Surgery Center for the fourth year in a row (video below…). On a mid-day break break between nine gall bladder surgeries performed on what he calls charity day with his associates and partners Dr. Elizabeth Lee and Dr. Robert H. Papadopoulos, Tyrell told ArcadiasBest.com that the patients are working people who earn just enough money to be disqualified for Medi-Cal but not enough to afford to buy health insurance.

Tyrell was the primary surgeon who arranged to have seven-year-old young Maria Lugo flown from Mexico to Arcadia in May 2008 to remove a large tumor from her chin, all at no cost to her family due to the generous donations of multiple medical personnel, private pilot Tim Murphy and Methodist Hospital. Tyrell and others had long been making regular trips to Mexico to perform free medical services when he decided he should offer his skills pro bono closer to home as well. He hopes more doctors and surgeons do the same soon. Typically his once-a-year charity day in Arcadia under the group called Surgeons of the Earth provides hernia and gall bladder operations on 10-12 patients who get screened first at a couple of free clinics in downtown Los Angeles.

The following video was produced during Tyrell’s first Arcadia charity surgery day in 2008…

Get the Flash Player to see this content.— By Scott Hettrick