By Diana Chinchilla | Operations and Mission's Director
Dear Friend,
Thank you for joining us on this journey with Healing Children's Hearts in Costa Rica and Beyond, a meaningful initiative by Surgeons of Hope Foundation, Inc., on GlobalGiving.
In our previous report, we discussed our missions in Mexico and Paraguay. Since then, we have had the opportunity to send our medical teams to Paraguay and Costa Rica. As a result, we will have the privilege of saving the lives of 55 children and empowering many others through our ongoing training of local medical teams. This training includes international rotations, on-site training, and virtual workshops.
As we approach the end of this year’s cycle, we are excited to share uplifting updates from our latest missions held between July and November:
- COSTA RICA JULY 2024 -
Our board member, the esteemed surgeon Dr. Christian Pizarro, Chief of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at Nemours Hospital, alongside the distinguished anesthesiologist Dr. Alfonso Casta, Senior Associate of Cardiac Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, worked tirelessly at the National Children's Hospital. Their dedication transformed the lives of children with serious heart conditions in collaboration with local cardiac colleagues.
- COSTA RICA SEPTEMBER 2024 -
During a brief visit to Costa Rica’s Children's Hospital, our surgeons, Dr. Eric Griffiths, the Surgical Director of Heart Transplant at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and Dr. Schitij Mistry, the Director of Quality and Outcomes in the Department of Cardiology at Boston Children’s Hospital, performed three surgeries. Additionally, they conducted an assessment that will aid in developing more goal-oriented missions for 2025.
- PARAGUAY OCTOBER 2024 -
We embarked on a transformative surgical mission in Paraguay with guest surgeons Dr. Christian Kreutzer, Head of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery at Hospital Universitario Austral in Argentina, Dr. Benjamin Chiostri, and intensive care specialist Dr. Rafael Fraire. Together, they performed complex surgeries on eight children while sharing invaluable training on ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) techniques with local medical staff.
- COSTA RICA NOVEMBER 2024 -
Our board member, distinguished surgeon Dr. Joseph Forbess, Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, is set to lead a mission during the second week of November, dedicated to performing complex open-heart surgeries on five children and providing surgical training to the local team.
As we prepare for our program in 2025, which will include nine missions, we would like to thank you for your unwavering support in making a profound difference in the lives of these children.
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