LIVING ON: Talk about making a difference. If ever we’ve seen an
example of that, it’s Dr. Dwight “Pete” Hanna, a Port Allegany
native whose work in India has benefited literally thousands of
people.

Dr. Hanna was honored recently by the Miraj Medical Centre in
India where he was instrumental over several decades in
establishing a burn unit and a department of plastic and
reconstructive surgery at this centre.

Dr. Hanna’s sister, Lois Abbey of Bradford, dropped off a copy
of the March 2009 newsletter published by an agency, brothersbrother.org, which
supplies medical equipment to countries in need. A 1940 graduate of
Port Allegany High School, Hanna had lived in Pittsburgh.

The story reads, “In the small town of Miraj in western India,
the legacy of Dr. Dwight ‘Pete’ Hanna lives on. Dr. Hanna, who died
in 2007, spent several decades making trips to India to serve,
teach and train at the Miraj Medical Centre.”

While he was instrumental in establishing those two important
departments, BBF Medical Director Chip Lambert, who recently
visited Miraj, said Dr. Hanna’s great gift may have been the time
he spent training local doctors at the burn unit.

” ‘Burn is a common injury in underdeveloped nations,’ Dr.
Lambert said, emphasizing that in places like Miraj where there is
no electricity or gas, there are open fires for cooking and for use
as light during the night,” the article says.

Dr. Hanna taught local medical staff how to treat and dress burn
victims, how to care for the wounds and how to perform skin
grafting.

” ‘It’s one thing to buy something or donate equipment,’ Dr.
Lambert said. ‘That piece of equipment will become obsolete. … But
when you teach someone, you teach them a skill that can be carried
on. There’s an intrinsic value of that skill that can be carried on
20 to 40 years and more if that person teaches someone else.’

“That is how Dr. Hanna is remembered at Miraj. As a BBF Trustee
for 10 years and as medical director for six years, Dr. Hanna was
influential in ensuring that medical supplies and surgical
instruments were sent to Miraj through medical mission teams.”

Just a few years ago, he made sure some high-quality,
precision-made stainless steel surgical instruments were donated
to Miraj and to the Christian Medical College and Hospital in
Vellore, India, the story said.