By Leila Hawken | Executive Consultant
To ensure the sustainability of the new Pediatric Heart Center of Nicaragua and to promote future exchanges of training initiatives, Surgeons of Hope responded to a request from the National Children's Hospital of San Jose, Costa Rica to send a surgical team to provide professional development collaboration and training for that hospital. A team of volunteers from New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia Medical Center traveled to Costa Rica last week and operated on 11 children in surgical collaboration with the local team. The collaboration was a great success. All eleven surgeries were successful. The National Hospital in Costa Rica is a short drive from our Heart Center. Surgeons of Hope is promoting a future cooperation between the two medical facilities on a regular basis. Toward that end, this NYPH mission was intended to promote that cooperation. And, it did.
In conjunction with meetings with Surgeons of Hope administrators, a video team arranged by Costa Rica's First Lady, Senora Mercedes Pena Domingo, visited the National Children's Hospital and filmed the mission. Great strides were made toward the desired cooperation. First Lady Pena Domingo said that such missions are important to maintain surgical progress in her country and health for the children to reduce the waiting list for surgery and to offer a greater quality of life to all people of her country. Dr. Ronald Quintana, Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at the National Children's Hospital praised the sharing of knowledge between his hospital staff and the visiting team of specialists. There exists the real potential of future cooperation between his hospital and our Heart Center in Managua.
Under the leadership of head surgeon Paul Chai, MD, of NYPH-Columbia, the eleven children received expert surgery. All surgeries were successful. One afternoon, Dr. Chai visited the post-op children in the Intensive Care Unit to see how they were progressing. Leaning in to examine a two-year-old, the child reached up to give Dr Chai a kiss. It was a moment for the whole team to remember.
For our Heart Center in Nicaragua, this regional progress is invaluable. It is a giant step toward narrowing the gap between health care that is readily available in the advantaged world, but which is largely unavailable to impoverished countries in Latin America.
Our Global Giving donors are a key element in contributing to this success. Please continue to help us in this effort.
Although our teams volunteer their time, there are mission expenses to be covered by Surgeons of Hope in the form of transportation, logistics, and medical supplies. With your help our Heart Center in Nicaragua will steadily grow in planned capabilities, and now in a partnership with the National Hospital in Costa Rica.
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