A Brevard County orthopedic surgeon and his nearly 30-person medical team flew to Kenya in 2026 and performed surgery on 27 joints, evaluated 250 patients, and helped one man regain the ability to walk and work again after an injury had left him unable to do either. The trip also came with real obstacles: war-related airfare disruptions and an Ebola outbreak in the region that raised health concerns for the team.
Dr. Kenneth Sands, an orthopedic surgeon who practices at Orlando Health in Melbourne, led the mission with his team, according to Spectrum News 13. Sands said the mission was mainly focused on providing knee replacement surgeries, but the team's work extended well beyond the operating table. The outlet reported that war in Iran interfered with the team's airfare, and that an Ebola outbreak in Uganda added another layer of concern for the group as they traveled through the region.
A Team Effort Under Pressure
Ashlee Kennel, Dr. Sands' medical assistant, joined the Kenya mission alongside students who also came along for the trip, per the station's report. Sands and his team faced travel disruptions and health concerns in the region throughout the mission, the outlet noted, yet the group pressed on with its packed schedule of surgeries and patient evaluations. Kennel said seeing patients walk again after surgery was especially meaningful to her, according to the same account. According to a 2015 study published through PubMed Central, participation in international surgical missions can improve cultural competency and sensitivity while increasing interest in public health and volunteerism.
Among those patients was a man named David, who had been unable to walk or work because of an injury before Sands operated on him in Kenya. The surgery gave David back his independence, the station reported, and patients across the mission expressed extreme gratitude after receiving treatment that otherwise would not have been performed for them. Kenya's private joint replacement procedures typically cost between $2,000 and $4,000, according to Arbutus Medical, putting elective knee and hip surgeries financially out of reach for most local citizens.
A Country Short on Specialists
That financial barrier compounds a severe shortage of specialized musculoskeletal care in Kenya. A 2021 source described the country as having one orthopedic surgeon per 1.1 million people. The country also faces a need for more specialized services.
Beyond the joint replacements, the mission's mobile clinic identified cases of undiagnosed diabetes, undiagnosed cancer, and undiagnosed hypertension among the 250 patients evaluated. The team also administered more than 150 cortisone injections and supplied walkers and post-operative medications, according to Operation International. The mission included consultations and surgeries in Kenya.
Part of a Larger Volunteer Network
Sands organized his group, known as Team Ortho, as a specialized chapter under Operation International, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization founded in 1996 by surgeons Medhat Allam, Ravi Kothuru, and nurse anesthetist Robert Mineo. The nonprofit coordinates international medical missions through a network of volunteer chapters that raise their own funding, and it has completed over 25,000 free surgical operations worldwide during its 30-year history, according to Operation International.
Kenya was not Sands' first overseas mission. In 2024, his Team Ortho performed 35 total knee replacements on 32 patients at Central Regional Referral Hospital in Gelephu, Bhutan — a country that had only begun performing localized total knee replacement surgeries at national referral centers in late 2022, per Operation International. Sands has cared for patients in Central Florida since 2011 and was the first orthopedic surgeon in Florida certified to perform ACL-sparing total knee replacements, according to Orlando Health. He uses muscle-sparing joint replacement techniques designed to reduce recovery time.
Looking Ahead
Sands said mission work can help medical professionals become better people, and he encouraged anyone interested in overseas medical work to get involved, per Spectrum News 13's report. He said he plans to take the practice next to Vietnam or somewhere in South America. Orlando Health, meanwhile, continues to expand its own Brevard County footprint, with planned regional investments exceeding $750 million.
