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Hillblom Legacy Helping Heal Micronesians with Craniofacial Defects
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Karin Vargervik
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Thousands of miles away, on a tiny South Pacific island, locals with cleft lips and palates are receiving world-class UCSF care, for free. The thriving School of Dentistry program in Saipan was borne of gratitude, generosity, and a plane crash.
The crash occurred in 1993 and severely injured Larry Hillblom, co-founder of DHL Worldwide Express. An expert with the UCSF Center for Craniofacial Anomalies and clinical professor of plastic surgery at UCSF, Douglas Ousterhout, MD, DDS, performed reconstructive surgery on Hillblom's face at Davies Medical Center in San Francisco.
Hillblom was pleased with the results, says Ousterhout, and the two became friends. Hillblom invited the surgeon to Saipan, where he lived, to treat children with birth defects. Wanting to help even more, especially in the region, Hillblom decided to support UCSF's work in craniofacial malformations at Ousterhout's request.
"Larry was a very giving person," recalls Ousterhout. "He was excited about the prospect of furthering medical treatment that could transform lives on the island and beyond."
A second plane crash took Hillblom's life in 1995. Hillblom's wish was realized when the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, Inc. endowed a professorship at the UCSF Center for Craniofacial Anomalies—which is part of the School of Dentistry—and provided funds to care for individuals with craniofacial malformations in the Northern Mariana Islands.
Since 2003, Center Director Karin Vargervik, DDS, and William Hoffman, MD, chief of UCSF's Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, have journeyed to Saipan for one week each spring to provide free orthodontic and surgery care to children and adults.
The two have repaired cleft lips and palates and more serious defects in more than 60 patients. They've also built and trained a mini-team of local specialists who provide follow-up care once a month.
In addition, Vargervik, the Larry L. Hillblom Distinguished Professor in Craniofacial Anomalies, has traveled to China to help develop local cleft palate treatment centers in conjunction with the nonprofit organization Alliance for Smiles.
"Mr. Hillblom has left a lasting legacy," says Vargervik. "Funding from the Hillblom Foundation has helped to improve the health of people the world over. We are immensely grateful for his exceptional generosity."
For more information about supporting the UCSF School of Dentistry, contact Richard McKenzie at 476-3645 or rmckenzie@support.ucsf.edu.
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