The Rotary Club of Ville Platte today (Tuesday) heard from Jennifer Martin, Director of Development for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport. Martin offered a video presentation of the history and services of Shriners Hospital in Shreveport. The hospital is the first Shriners hospital in the nation officially opening in 1922. The hospital system has expanded into 22 specialty hospitals throughout the country, Canada and Mexico. The Shriners provides+ specialized care for children with orthopedic conditions, cleft lip and palate, orthopedic injuries and sports medicine conditions. Care has been provided to over 95,000 children regardless of the families' ability to pay. She gave an example on the costs associated with some of the medical procedures: orthopedic surgery $37,584 and spine surgery $127,334. It costs about $19 million dollars to run the hospital system. Shriners operate the system through endowments and donations. She was the guest of Rotarian Renee Brown. Maggie Ortego introduced her to the club. Rotary Club members were urged to make plans to attend the annual Club Fall Social on October 23.