2022 Travel Team Feature: Dustin Jewell
Preparations are well underway for the 2022 Operation Walk Mission to Antigua, Guatemala. Each year, roughly 30% of our team is brand new and have never traveled with us before. In this series, we will highlight veteran and new members of the travel team so that you can see what brings the team joy at work, at home, and in their community. This year’s trip will be our seventh to Antigua, and our twelfth trip overall. We enjoy returning to Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro, our partner hospital in Antigua, which we affectionately call our home away from home. The relationships formed over the last 13 years of traveling there are lasting.
Travel team members generously volunteer their time, talent, and energy toward our shared goal of providing the gift of mobility to patients in need. There are financial and time commitments that each travel team member reaches in order to make the mission a reality for our patients. Despite this, many of our volunteers have traveled on at least 50% - 75% of our missions over the years.
Read on to learn more about our first travel team member to be featured, Dustin Jewell. Dustin is from Pittsburgh, and his first mission trip was last year in 2021. Since then, he has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters at home and in Antigua. We are thrilled to have him a part of our team again and to help with the sterile processing department.
Meet Travel Team Member Dustin Jewell!
From where does Dustin hail? What made him passionate about healthcare?
Dustin is a native of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, but is now a proud resident of Brighton Heights in Pittsburgh. His grandmother was a home healthcare worker, and his mother was a nursing home administrator. He believes that the work that she did put him on the healthcare path as well. After high school, Dustin got a job at a nursing home where he followed his grandmother’s footsteps. Later on, he obtained a position at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, and now uses his skills daily at UPMC Mercy as a Sterile Processing Department Educator/Supervisor.
What is Dustin’s passion?
While Dustin is a hard-working healthcare professional, he makes sure to find time for his passion, dance fitness. Dustin is a Zumba instructor with eight licenses, and carries a wide variety of knowledge on the subject. He enjoys Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington, and also enjoys traveling. His favorite trip was to the West Coast, where he spent time in Portland, Oregon and Sacramento, California.
“My excitement comes from the ability to offer the level of medical care and opportunities that some of these people may not have ever had. I also am excited to be able to meet new people that do the same types of jobs that we do every day from various parts of the world.”
What brings Dustin back to Operation Walk?
Dustin is happy to be joining Operation Walk Pittsburgh for a second year. As a member of the central sterile processing team, Dustin is excited to be able to continue in his every day field of practice in Antigua. With his background, he is able to offer expertise in properly sterilizing reusable surgical instrumentation that ensures patient safety and the best outcomes. Dustin is a team player and lends a hand beyond the operating rooms. He is willing to help in any task to ensure our mission trips are successful. This includes packing up all of our supplies and cargo to be shipped back to Pittsburgh. Dustin is pictured from Mission 2021 loading up the cargo with a smile on his face.
Dustin is someone who has always enjoyed giving back to the community. He is especially grateful OpWalk gives him the opportunity to offer an amazing, life-changing experience for others. Dustin understands the importance of central sterile processing, and how it comes into play for a successful surgical experience for not only the physicians but the patients, too. We are lucky to have his talents and commitment for this year’s mission.
When asked the three words he would use to describe Operation Walk Pittsburgh, Dustin answered, LOVE, HAPPINESS, & FAMILY.
Every travel team member agrees to a fundraising commitment as a condition of joining the team. Donations made to Operation Walk Pittsburgh in a travel team member’s name are used to cover the cost of critically needed surgical supplies and equipment for the mission. Would you please consider making a donation in Dustin’s name to support his fundraising goal. Remember, 100% of all donations made to Operation Walk Pittsburgh directly support patient care during the mission.
Won’t you help Dustin reach his fundraising goal?