This month, we are fortunate to feature Board Member Terre Osterkamp, M.D.
Dr. Osterkamp has served on the Operation Walk Los Angeles Board for many years. Her life-long commitment to helping improve the medical community is an inspiration to all of us.
BIOGRAPHY
Terre L. Osterkamp, M.D., was raised in Mason City, Iowa. She attended University of Colorado for undergraduate school and then attended USC Medical School for her medical degree. She did her residency in Obstretics and Gynecology at LAC/USC Medical Center. Terre was in private practice for 32 years in La Cañada and admitted her patients to Huntington Memorial Hospital and Verdugo Hills Hospital. After retiring from her practice, she was asked to be Clinical Director of Ob/Gyn Services for the ChapCare organization and its eight clinics. She is presently working there part time.
Terre is married to John Osterkamp, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon who also attended CU and USC. They have been married for 46 years and have 3 daughters and 6 grandchildren. They both love golf, travel, spend time at the beach, and be with their family.
Terre has been on the Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation Board for 20 years and served as Chair. She also served on the Ronald McDonald House Pasadena Board. For 9 years, she was on the Mayfield Senior School Board and serves as a Chair. She enjoyed National Charity League for 16 years with her daughters, helping seniors at a retirement home. Terre has been on the Annandale Golf Team for several years and enjoys playing competitive bridge.
I hope all of you are staying well. A year ago we would never have dreamed how our lives would change. This pandemic, like those in the past, will change the way we do things, but will not change the human spirit of helping others. I have been in constant contact with our colleagues in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Cuba. We are comparing statistics, treatment protocols and other information on how are countries are dealing with COVID-19. We are disappointed that our missions did not work out this year, but we all commit to getting back to the patients waiting for us as soon as it is safe to travel again.
Today, we would have been recovering 50 or more patients that received a new hip or knee replacement from our OpWalk Los Angeles team in Managua, Nicaragua. Instead, our team leaders are scrambling to distribute supplies to our own colleagues in the United States and people infected with the COVID-19 virus.
During the screening process, each patient has their photo taken with their OPWalk number and medical file. These photos are placed in the patient’s file and used to help confirm patient identification during these first few critical hours. I had processed Maria’s photo and went to the patient waiting area to place it in her file. I identified her right away and explained that I was going to add her photograph to her file. I asked her why she didn’t have a smile for the camera and she explained that she hadn’t smiled in a long time. For nine long years, she’d been coping with excruciating pain in her right hip. This pain made it difficult for her to catch the bus each day to her job as a house cleaner. Once she arrived at work, her ability to complete her daily tasks was almost non-existent. She confided that she didn’t think she would be able to go on much longer and worried about what would happen to her and her three children.