The Southside Shrine Club, in cooperation with Southside Community Hospital, held their sixth annual Shriners Hospitals Screening Clinic on Saturday, July 31, at Southside Community Hospital. The purpose of the clinic was to locate patients who might be helped by the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

The clinic was a success with seven potential patients attending. Dr. Ibtehal Al-Ani, pediatrician at Southside Community Hospital, assisted the patients and their families in completing the medical portion of the application.

The completed applications will be submitted to the Greenville South Carolina Shriners Hospital for Children. If in the opinion of the doctors the children can be treated successfully at the Greenville Hospital they will be accepted into the program. When they are accepted these children will receive the finest medical care at no cost to the families.

At the present time the Southside Shrine Club is sponsoring about 40 children from Southside Virginia who are being treated at the Greenville Shriners Hospital. Shriners Hospitals for Children is a network of 22 pediatric hospitals in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico that provide specialized care for children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate. All services are provided at no charge.

All children up to 18 years of age may be eligible for treatment at a Shriners Hospital, if they can benefit from the specialized care available there. Eligibility is not based on financial need or relationship to a Shriner. If you know of a patient who you feel might benefit from care at a Shriners Hospital contact one of the following Shriners: Dean Palmer, Farmville, (434) 390-2916, Percy Cochran, Burkeville, (434) 767-3735, Ken Crawford, Keysville, (434) 736-8731or Robert (Rip) Willis, Amelia, (804) 561-2115.