Barry Byer, M.D.’69: Meeting the needs of people in need
“It was while working at Jackson Memorial Hospital, during my time at the University of Miami Medical School, that I really took to heart working with poor people,” says Barry Byer, M.D. “Helping people with limited access to medical care really had an impact on me. That’s what really got me thinking about, early on, what I wanted to do with my medical degree.”
Barry Byer graduated from UM School of Medicine in 1969. After graduation, he did an internship at Marion County General Hospital at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis, IN. He was a staff associate at the National Heart & Lung Institute in Bethesda, MD from 1970 to 1972, and a resident in Radiology at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC from 1972 to 1973.
Now, he is the Chief of the Department of Family Practice at Virginia Hospital Center and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University Medical School where he is an Educator of Medical Students in the Department of Family Medicine.
“In the early 1990's, I was asked to be the doctor on a medical mission trip from my church to Moscow, Russia” says Byer. “I saw such need on that trip. Food, basic medical care, and warm clothing were difficult to obtain and too expensive for the average Russian. I returned and shared what I saw there with my adult Sunday School class. They were really touched by the need of these people and we decided to do something. We learned that we could ship a 40-foot ocean container free of charge to needy people in Russia via a newly instituted program of the USAID (United States Agency for International Development).” After doing this for a few years, Dr. Byer founded a volunteer organization called CrossLink International to continue this work.
Over a period of the next three years, Dr. Byer worked with his church, community members, area hospitals, and medical supply and pharmaceutical companies and was able to collect enough donations to ship seventeen 40-foot containers to Moscow. This relief program ended in 1996 because it had become too difficult and too costly for CrossLink to get the containers through customs in Russia. Meanwhile, Byer and volunteers from CrossLink had developed effective systems to acquire and transform donated goods and funds into aid to the world's poor, and they felt a strong calling to continue this work.
In November 1996, CrossLink International was incorporated as a non-profit humanitarian aid organization that provides pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and recycled eyeglasses to mission groups and free clinics abroad and in the USA. Since its inception, CrossLink has provided medical aid valued at over $33 million to over 2000 medical mission projects in 120 countries and 14 free and faith-based clinics in Virginia.
Byer also organizes yearly trips to Honduras. Annually since 1999, as the Executive Director of the Virginia Hospital Center Medical Brigade, he has lead a team of 60-75 dedicated healthcare professionals and support staff to Honduras to meet the healthcare needs of some of the most underserved people there.
“When Hurricane Mitch hit Central America in 1998, I saw the reports of the devastation, and I thought I would like to go there and help,” says Dr. Byer. “My first trip was a complete disaster in many ways. We had shipped ahead a 40-foot container packed with supplies and medicine. But, due to torrential rains, there were massive mud slides that blocked the roads from the port to the mission hospital and covered the runway at San Pedro Sula Airport, cutting off all flights just after our arrival. As a result, the container was delayed and actually didn’t arrive at the mission hospital where we were based until 10 days after our departure. Of the 39 trunks full of medicine and supplies that we had checked as our second piece of baggage with Continental Airlines, only five showed up and the others couldn’t be flown in because the airport was closed. So as it turned out, we were terribly undersupplied and underequipped. It was extremely frustrating to have to go without many of the supplies and medications on which we were counting. Through all of this, I learned a very important lesson from what appeared to be the worst experience of my life. I learned something very positive that forever changed my heart. I learned and I experienced what a “typical day” was like for a full time medical missionary working in a third world country with very limited resources. That understanding really fired me up and increased my commitment to continue to do mission work personally. In addition, I felt driven to redoubling my efforts through CrossLink to support the work of other mission teams dedicated to helping very needy and underserved people worldwide.”
For the last two years, Byer’s team of about 70 physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other clinical professionals takes a one-week pilgrimage to Comayagua, Honduras. On average, the team treats more than 6,000 patients and performs more than 80 surgeries during their stay.
“After this last trip, we realized we needed to change our mission statement. In the past, our mission was to provide humanitarian healthcare to the underserved through short- term mission trips,” says Byer. “We wanted to do something in the area of sustainable healthcare. Our new mission statement adds an important dimension to our work. We now strive to continue to provide humanitarian care through short-term missions, but also work to develop and support a reproducible model that empowers community health workers in underserved areas by training them to provide on-going preventive medicine and public health counseling and medical treatments that improve health and well being in their communities.”
The Virginia Hospital Central Medical Brigade was able to begin their model of sustainable healthcare this year by selecting two remote mountain villages and transporting three carefully chosen responsible leaders from each community for training with the mission team during the Brigade’s week-long stay. For the past two years, the Brigade has been working in partnership with the local Comayagua Lions Club that provides warehouse facilities and logistical support.
“This new model has me very excited,” says Dr. Byer. “We are constantly refining our process trying to squeeze the most efficiency out of our time there. This year we even had an experienced warehouse manager on our team who dramatically improved our materials management. Now we know exactly what we took, what we used and what is left down there. So that when we prepare for next year, we will be seeking donations for or purchasing only the things that we really need. Having this expertise on the team was an answer to a prayer. This year we also had local cell phones which helped tremendously with communications between the primary care, surgery and warehouse teams.”
In 2000, Dr. Byer received the Falls Church City Commendation for Humanitarian Efforts, after leading the Virginia Hospital Center Brigade to Honduras for the second year in a row.
He has been honored by the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce on two occasions. In 2001, Dr. Byer received the Carroll V. Shreve Award for meritorious community service and humanitarian work. In March of 2005, he received the Chamber’s James Elkin Award for international humanitarian service.
In October of 2005, Dr. Byer was honored as the winner of Acacia Federal Savings Bank's "Nice Guys" Award. Acacia sponsors the Nice Guys award to honor local individuals and businesses committed to hard work, high standards, and helping others. Each year, one individual and one business in the Washington, DC area are chosen and receive a $3,000 donation from Acacia for their favorite charity.
Most recently, Dr Byer received the Medical Society of Virginia Foundation’s Salute to Service Award for Service to the International Community for founding of CrossLink International, where he currently serves as Medical Director, and for founding and leading the Virginia Hospital Center Medical Brigade. The annual Salute to Service Award recognizes outstanding efforts to improve patient care, both locally and abroad. Salutes are extended to physicians, medical students, and alliance members dedicated to creating and nurturing health care delivery and disease prevention by providing service on behalf of all Virginians, service to the uninsured and underserved, service to the international community, and service to the profession.
Dr. Byer and his wife Sharyn live in Falls Church, VA. Their son, David, is a medical student at Georgetown Medical School and their daughter, Lauren, is married and lives in Houston, TX.
“When I start helping people in great need, I just feel driven to do it more and more,” says Byer.
