KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsHospital helps with Operation Medical Libraries
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) - There are many times when we may take the quality of medical care we get here in the U.S. for grant it. It much more advanced than in many parts of the world. And that's why a Siouxland hospital is reaching out to hospitals in the Middle East.
"I just want to try to make a difference," said Steve Liebetrau. Boxes of books. But these aren't just any books. They're medical textbooks donated to "Operation Medical Libraries." "We put a letter out to the physicians and the staff here at St. Luke's and asked for textbooks, medical textbooks that we could send overseas to Iraq and Afghanistan," said Liebetrau. It's because physicians there haven't had access to good medical information for years. In fact, their most recent textbooks were published during World War II. "It's mainly because of the previous rule, whether it's dictatorship or the taliban. All of those materials were banned, books were burned, any type of education material was taken away from the physicians," said Liebetrau.
Steve Liebetrau learned about "Operation Medical Libraries" in October. This is the second load of books he and St. Luke's Regional Medical Center have sent overseas. The first had five boxes... this one 6. "We want anything from 1990 of a copyright date to the present. They need anatomy, physiology textbooks, medical dictionaries, and then any of the specialties," said Liebetrau. Liebetrau says his goal is to send a shipment of books every month. If you have some medical textbooks you'd like to donate, you can give Steve Liebetrau a call at 279-3331, or drop them off at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center
