Charitable Outreach from Montefiore Children's Hospital
Montefiore Medical Center, Childrens Services
June 2006
Charitable Outreach
The Heart of The Children's Hospital at Montefiore
CHAM's social commitment extends far beyond the children in the Bronx and New York City; CHAM's pediatric expertise is sought out by families and medical centers throughout the world. Most recently, eight Iraqi children visited CHAM for life-saving cardiac care. Dr. Samuel Weinstein, the director of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery has been in the news for a personal sacrifice he made to save the life of an 8-year-old boy during a mission trip to El Salvador.
Healing the world's children at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore
For ten years, Montefiore has partnered with the Gift of Life and Rachel Cooper Foundation to bring children living overseas to CHAM for highly specialized pediatric cardiac care they can't get in their native countries. More than 500 children have been treated through this partnership.
Last December, CHAM surgeons saved the lives of eight Iraqi children who were suffering from congenital heart defects. One of the patients, 11-year-old Wsim Rabea was suffering from an obstruction in his aortic valve that reduced the amount of blood that was able to get from the left ventricle to the aorta. Before the procedure, Wsim fainted when he ran around and played with other healthy children. The operation restored his ability to enjoy the life of a healthy pre-teen.
Wsim's father, Rabea H. Abo Senda, was thankful for the life-saving gift CHAM gave his family and was impressed by the humanity of the CHAM medical team. "The American people are very affectionate," he said. "We can see when we look in their eyes that they love our children as if our children are their own children."
Bringing CHAM to the World
CHAM's global outreach doesn't stop with the patients it can bring to the hospital; Two of our surgeons belong to Heart Care International, a non-profit organization that provides open heart surgery in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador. Heart Care International is also committed to training local health care professionals overseas in state-of-the-art treatments for heart disease.
Heart Care International was founded by Montefiore's Cardiothoracic Surgery Department Chairman Dr. Robert Michler in 1994. Dr. Samuel Weinstein, director of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, joined Heart Care International in 1996 and is on its board of directors.
On a recent trip to El Salvador, Dr. Michler and Dr. Weinstein made international news when the lack of a rare blood type resulted in the surgeons donating their own blood during the surgery. The eight year old boy, who received a Ross/Konno operation has since done well and is home from the hospital.
Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery Charitable Outreach
For more information on the work Montefiore does to save tiny hearts across the world, contact 718-920-7745, 3400 Bainbridge Ave, Suite 5B, Bronx NY 10467. Or to see the online article please see http://www.montekids.org/services/cardiothoracic/charitable-outreach/