Heart Care International

Heart Care International is a 501(3)(c) organization that, for the past 25 years, has provided pro bono medical and surgical services to indigent children living in Central and South America and the Caribbean. We dedicate our services to the host country for a minimum of five years during which time we conduct multiple sort-term medical and surgical trips concentrating on the diagnosis and treatment of congenital and acquired heart disease in children. Central to our mission is respectfully working with our medical hosts, host countries, and local family organizations to carefully define the needs of the local community, reinforce hands-on training and mentorship of health care providers at all levels, increase both the capacity and capability to provide safe care locally even in our absence, and by helping create the conditions that will lead to sustainable infrastructural support. Programs have been conducted in Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Chiapas, Mexico, and Peru. Our newest partners are in Manta, Ecuador with trips planned for the 2019-20 year. Our relationships have proven to be enduring and tremendously gratifying as well as enlightening for all participants. Our trips are surgical and interventional in focus and aim to expose and train local pediatricians, cardiologists, perfusionists, surgeons, anesthesiologists, intensivists, nurses, and respiratory care personnel in contemporary practices, thus elevating the general level of diagnosis and critical care services in the local community. Our trips occur throughout the year with multiple teams of specialists, many of whom have worked with Heart Care from its inception. The roots of Heart Care are Columbia based, but our volunteers now hail from a variety of leading universities and children's hospitals in the United States and abroad. Some of our volunteer medical staff are indigenous personnel who in the past worked with Heart Care in their home country and are now medical "ambassadors" with a wealth of experience to share about how to elevate practice in impoverished environments. A long-standing goal and recently reinforced emphasis of our organization is the development of technology infrastructure that would enable 24/7, real-time consultation, conferencing, and data analysis that would convert the concept of the short-term medical trip into an easily accessible, web-based remote presence in the host country.

Faculty

William Schechter

Locations

  • Dominican Republic
  • El Salvador
  • Guatemala
  • Peru
  • Mexico

Areas of Focus

Cardiovascular Health