Spring 2001 Highlights

Surgical Mission 2001

Last October, our screen team evaluated 180 children as possible surgical candidates and performed 13 interventional catheterizations. In January 2001, we undertook our second surgical mission to the Dominican Republic.   During our 3-week stay in January and February, our team of over 100 volunteers cared for 67 young patients.  We performed open-heart surgery on 57 gravely ill children and performed interventional catheterizations on another 10 children.  Since our inception, we are proud to have provided open-heart surgery for over 300 children in dire need of cardiac care. This was our seventh large scale mission, with five to Guatemala since 1994 and one to the Dominican Republic last January

2 in 2000

We are thrilled to announce that last year we realized our hope of “2 in 2000.”  In January 2000, we operated on 44 children and performed interventional catheterizations on another 12 children in Santo Domingo.  In October 2000, we sent a team of Heart Care volunteers to Guatemala.  The team consisted of a surgeon, two cardiologists, an anesthesiologist, a perfusionist, four Pediatric Intensive Care nurses, and a respiratory therapist.  The focus of this team was to train local personnel in a variety of disciplines, while Dr. Mark Galantowicz trained local surgeons in the highly specialized Ross procedure.  Eight successful surgeries took place while Drs. Bill Hellenbrand and Daphne Hsu trained local cardiologists during 14 interventional catheterization procedures. Training of local personnel continues to be at the core of our Vision.

Inbound Program

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, there are always some children we are unable to operate on.  Last year, team members were able to arrange for their hospitals to provide surgery free of charge to two such patients.  We are very grateful for the generosity of Ohio State University/ Children’s Hospital of Columbus and Children’s Hospital in Boston, as well as the commitment of our team members, specifically Dr. Sam Weinstein and Dr. Andres Navedo, to help “our kids.”  Thanks to them, Vladimir Santana Cruz, age five, and Jose Rafael Batista Marmolejos, age one, received their much needed surgery. Today, both Vladimir and Jose are thriving at home in the Dominican Republic. Thanks to the continued generosity of OSU/Children’s Hospital, our dedicated team member, Dr. Sam Weinstein will be performing much needed surgery on Sanders Perez, age one,  in June 2001.

Plans for 2001

A second educational mission to Guatemala is planned this summer.  In October, we will bring a small scale mission to Santo Domingo to perform surgery and interventional catheterizations on approximately 12 children.

With your support, we look forward to providing many more children and their families with the hope of a future.