Dr. Christina Hardesty Travels on Medical Mission to CURE Children's Hospital of Ethiopia

Innovations in Orthopaedics | Summer 2025

In January, Christina Hardesty, MD, traveled to CURE Children’s Hospital of Ethiopia in the capital city of Addis Ababa to treat children with spinal deformities.

Christina Hardesty, MD

James Voos, MD

“I’ve dreamed of working in a developing country for years,” says Dr. Hardesty, a Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and Program Director of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine/University Hospitals Orthopaedic Surgery Residency program. “The medical team at CURE has the infrastructure in place to provide incredible care for children before and after spine surgery, so it provided an ideal opportunity to do this work in a safe manner.”

CURE Ethiopia provides children and their families with world-class clinical services. Equipped with 70 beds and four operating rooms, the hospital performs more than 3,000 reconstructive and orthopedic surgeries annually to help children with treatable disabilities. It also serves as a regional training center, offering pediatric orthopedic residency and fellowship programs.

Planning for the medical mission began nearly a year in advance. “We believe in extending the expertise of University Hospitals and Rainbow Babies beyond the walls of our academic medical center,” says James Voos, MD, Chair of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and the Jack and Mary Herrick Distinguished Chair in Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine at University Hospitals. “We work to ensure that our local Northeast Ohio communities thrive, and it is also rewarding when someone of Dr. Hardesty’s talents is able to travel across the world to share her expertise with fellow physicians and improve the lives of children.”

In addition to taking surgical supplies donated by University Hospitals, Dr. Hardesty worked closely with medical implant companies to secure equipment and support. Over five days, she performed six complex pediatric spine surgeries, including cases of idiopathic, congenital, syndromic and early onset scoliosis. “We did two cases that required growing rod implantation,” she says. “Other children who had been placed in spinal traction lived at the hospital in preparation for our arrival.”

Dr. Hardesty explains that CURE is not able to use the weighted halo traction frames that are standard in American hospitals; instead, they use halo-pelvic distraction. “When we are stretching somebody’s spine, there are potential nerve issues that need to be monitored, and the level of traction requires adjustment every few days,” she says. “It was inspiring to see how the team uses their resources to do their very best for these kids.”

Dr. Christina Hardesty (4th from left on bottom with group of physicians and residents during 2025 Medical Mission to CURE Children's Hospital in Ethiopia.

Patients sometimes reside at CURE before their surgeries to receive proper nutrition and care. “There are children coming from very poor areas who do not have access to enough calories and protein to be able to heal from these major surgeries,” Dr. Hardesty says. “The team will bring children and families in to feed them and maximize their medical potential for these complex procedures.”

Opportunities for Mentorship

CURE attending physicians and fellows scrubbed in to participate in Dr. Hardesty’s cases, and she gave a grand rounds talk during her visit. “We had collaborative discussions on the techniques we use for these complex cases,” she says.

Dr. Hardesty also helped jump-start the hospital’s intrathecal morphine (ITM) program. “ITM is a pain management method for spine surgeries that we are known for at Rainbow Babies,” she says.

The technique, which involves delivering morphine into the cerebrospinal fluid, allows direct access to opiate receptors. “We use ITM routinely and have published several papers on its effectiveness for pain management,” Dr. Hardesty says. “We were able to be there for CURE’s first case using the technique to offer guidance and feedback.”

Chris Biro, an intraoperative neuromonitoring technician at Rainbow Babies for more than 30 years, accompanied Dr. Hardesty on the trip to provide resources for CURE’s developing neuromonitoring program. Neuromonitoring was invented at Rainbow Babies and is universally regarded as instrumental for spine surgery safety.

“Chris was at University Hospitals when the technique was first developed,” Dr. Hardesty says. “He was able to help work alongside the CURE technicians and discuss alerts to watch for or how to address a problem, which was very impactful.”

Dr. Hardesty keeps in touch with the CURE team and is excited to hear that the patients she treated are doing well. An ongoing journal club provides another means of sharing knowledge. She looks forward to returning to Ethiopia in 2026 to care for more children in need of life-altering spinal surgery.

For more information, contact Dr. Hardesty at Christina.Hardesty@UHhospitals.org.

Contributing Experts:
Christina Hardesty, MD
Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon
UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital
Harry E. Figgie III Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery
Program Director
Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Orthopaedic Surgery Residency
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Pediatrics
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

James Voos, MD
Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Executive Director
University Hospitals Haslam Sports Innovation Center
Jack and Mary Herrick Distinguished Chair, Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

Charles H. Herndon Professor
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Head Team Physician, Cleveland Browns
Medical Director, Cleveland Ballet