Heart to Heart Global Cardiac Care

Join us this World Humanitarian Day as we celebrate the generosity of spirit of all those who share their time and expertise and donate much-needed financial resources to help make the world a better place for all.

As Heart to Heart marks our 35th anniversary, we would like to underscore the profound impact made by our dedicated medical volunteers. To date, Heart to Heart-trained specialists have saved the lives of more than 35,000 children! Our newest blog post highlights the latest contribution of two of Heart to Heart’s longest-serving humanitarians.

Thank you for your commitment to humanitarianism and your investment in our mission. Together we are saving lives and creating positive change for families around the world.

Click here to learn more about their work last month at our partner site in San Jose, Costa Rica: https://www.heart-2-heart.org/blog/2024/8/16/program-progress-optimizing-patient-selection-for-costa-rican-children-with-chd

Happy Father’s Day! Today we express our deepest appreciation for all of the dedicated fathers who take care of their children and families—especially for those fathers of children with congenital heart disease. Your love and strength provide comfort in the most difficult of times.

Thank you for all that you do for your children—your care and effort mean the world.

Happy International Nurses’ Day! Today we celebrate all the fearless nurses who care for children in need. In particular, we’d like to give a big shout-out to our bedside ICU nurses, who radiate kindness, love, and patience during the most challenging of times.

Photographed: Cheryl Taylor, RN with three-year-old Lhaya; Eric Eggler, RN working with nursing colleagues at the bedside in Costa Rica’s only pediatric intensive care unit.

We are writing from San Jose, Costa Rica, where a superstar team of Heart to Heart medical volunteers has been working alongside cardiac colleagues at the National Children’s Hospital. The local team of physicians and nurses are committed to providing excellent heart care for the children of their country, but they face many challenges. This week, our joint team is collaborating not only in diagnosing and treating pediatric patients, but also in determining next steps to advance the level of care for children born with heart defects.

Thank you for supporting Heart to Heart’s life-saving work—stay tuned for more updates soon! ❤️

Happy Doctor’s Day! We are pleased to let you know that next week a fabulous Heart to Heart team of experienced cardiac specialists will be heading to the National Children’s Hospital (HNN) in San Jose, Costa Rica. Our team of veteran medical volunteers will be led by longtime Heart to Heartniks, Gary Raff, MD and Frank Cetta, MD, as well as Founder & Medical Director, Nilas Young, MD, and Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, Josie Everett.

This will be our fifth cardiac training mission working collaboratively with our HNN colleagues to treat children with life-threatening heart disease—and an excellent opportunity to continue to provide teaching and training on advanced congenital heart disease topics. Thank you for making this meaningful work possible.

We look forward to sharing on-the-ground updates soon!

Today is International Women’s Day! Did you know that heart disease affects about 80 million women globally?

Today we’d like to highlight the stories of three brave Costa Rican women: Ilse, Alana, and Mercedes. The three of them underwent minimally invasive valve repair surgeries in September 2023. Each one of these women is a testament to the strength, resilience, and bravery of women and heart patients around the world.

Learn more about them on our website at www.heart-2-heart.org/san-jose-costa-rica

Happy Valentine’s Day from Heart to Heart—today we are celebrating our organization’s 35th anniversary!

Since our founding, specialists trained by our expert medical volunteers have saved the lives of more than 35,000 children and 10,000 adults—and we couldn’t have done it without you. Your support enables us to continue teaching and training our colleagues abroad to expand and advance life-saving care for heart patients in need around the world.

We are so grateful to the kind and loving community of people who make this work possible. Your love, care, and generosity make the world a better and healthier place! ❤

Imagine learning that your baby was born with a life-threatening heart defect. After doctors’ appointments and phone calls, you learn that your baby will need open heart surgery—and very soon.

Now imagine that you—like 90% of children in the world—live in an area with limited access to heart care, and there is no place in your country where a child can undergo complex open heart surgery. This is a situation that millions of parents find themselves in every day. What would you do?

Heart to Heart trains teams of cardiac specialists in areas of need around the world, so that all children can access the heart care they need. This CHD Awareness Week, donate to expand access to life-saving cardiac care—now and for generations to come.

Happy New Year from Heart to Heart! To learn more about baby Jeikol and Deborah, click here: https://www.heart-2-heart.org/meet-the-children and to read Alana's full story, click here:https://www.heart-2-heart.org/s/Alana-CR-Patient-Story.pdf ❤️

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Happy New Year from the Heart to Heart team! We wish you a happy and ❤️ healthy 2024.

Don’t forget to donate to Heart to Heart before the end of the year! Your support provides cardiac teams around the world with advanced training. This, in turn, enables heart patients to receive the care they need locally, increasing access to life-saving care and reducing the global burden of heart disease.

Donate today to expand access to cardiac care in 2024!

Were you, or was someone you know, born with a heart defect (CHD)? Worldwide, 1.3 million babies are born with CHD each year. In the United States 97% of children born with CHD are successfully treated, going on to live long and healthy lives. In contrast, nine out of ten children around the world lack the access to cardiac care they desperately need.

Heart to Heart is changing this by training teams of pediatric cardiac specialists in areas of need. Teaching and training local teams to provide life-saving care for patients results in increased access for children with CHD, now and for generations to come.

Donate today to help train cardiac specialists and save children’s lives! ❤️

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so grateful for our caring community of volunteers, donors, and supporters. Together we expand access to life-saving heart care and impact the lives of thousands of children and adults around the world.

Thank you! 🧡

We are so excited to share an update about our most recent mission to Costa Rica, during which our team focused on minimally invasive valve repairs and replacements at the request of our newest colleagues at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in San Jose. The joint team operated on four adult patients – and we are happy to report that all four surgeries were a success and all patients are home with their families.

To read more about Heart to Heart’s cardiac training mission at San Juan de Dios, visit our website – and stay tuned as we continue to work to expand access to life-saving cardiac care to patients of all ages!

https://www.heart-2-heart.org/blog/2023/10/17/treating-adults-with-heart-disease-in-costa-rica

Treating Adults with Heart Disease in Costa Rica! — Heart to Heart Global Cardiac Care In September 2023, Heart to Heart conducted our first-ever adult cardiac training mission to San Jose, Costa Rica. This momentous occasion came as a result of an initial invitation to San Juan de Dios Hospital (HSJD) in 2019 from chief of cardiac surgery, Klaus Kuhn, MD. HSJD is one of three public

We are excited to share with you our program report, wherein you will learn about our patients, including Enzo and Gabriel, whose stories reflect those of hundreds of other Costa Rican children currently in need of cardiac care. Over the last year, Heart to Heart has provided a wide array of education and training opportunities for our Costa Rican colleagues as we strive to ensure that all children born with CHD in their country can receive timely treatment. Check out our 2022-2023 Program Report here:https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5af38184620b8530a5c705c1/t/6515f0326da3192bf1d20782/1695936572272/HNN-Program-Report-Sep-2023.pdf ❤️

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death worldwide, affecting children born with congenital heart defects and adults of all ages. This week, a Heart to Heart volunteer team traveled to the San Juan de Dios Hospital (Hospital San Juan de Dios, HSJD) in San Jose, Costa Rica to teach and train local cardiac specialists in minimally invasive valve surgery in order to help expand access to life-saving cardiac care for adult patients, like 61-year-old Ilse.

One day, in the middle of the night, doña Ilse suddenly felt that she was drowning. She didn’t know it, but she was having a pulmonary edema episode – a symptom of heart failure. Doña Ilse was soon diagnosed with severe mitral valve insufficiency. After reviewing her case, our joint team successfully operated on doña Ilse on Tuesday– and she is now in good spirits and recovering in the ICU!

For patients like doña Ilse, access to timely treatment can increase life expectancy by 15 years, or more, and spares them from the terrible symptoms of end-stage heart failure. As more and more people survive to older ages, access to cardiac care becomes even more critical. These life-saving treatments markedly improve and extend lives, giving our patients precious time to cherish with their children, grandchildren, and loved ones.

We look forward to sharing more updates about our work in Costa Rica soon. ¡Pura vida!

Please join the Heart to Heart team in extending a warm welcome to Gary Raff, MD! For 20 years, Dr. Raff has served as a Heart to Heart as a medical volunteer on cardiac training missions all across the world. We are excited to celebrate him today for his humanitarianism – and to welcome him as a member of our governing board! We are confident that Dr. Raff’s skills and leadership will be a wonderful asset to our organization. Follow the link to read more about him on our website: https://www.heart-2-heart.org/gary-raff !

Please join the Heart to Heart team in extending a warm welcome to Sherene Kelly! For almost 20 years, Sherene has assisted some of the largest, and smallest, nonprofits in the country to help them meet their fundraising goals. We are excited to have her and are confident that her skills and insight will be of great service and benefit to our organization. Click here to read more about her on our website: https://www.heart-2-heart.org/sherene-kelly

Last month, Heart to Heart sponsored Natalia Retana, MD, a pediatric cardiology fellow from San Jose, Costa Rica, to participate in a two-week “echo bootcamp” at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Dr. Retana attended a series of workshops and lectures on how to diagnose various types of heart defects by echocardiogram – a non-invasive ultrasound of the heart. A huge thanks to doctors Kirk Kanter, William Border, Holly Bauser-Heaton, and to the entire CHOA team for welcoming Dr. Retana and offering her this invaluable educational opportunity!

After finishing the bootcamp, Dr. Retana sent a message of thanks: “I don’t have enough words for Heart to Heart for all your support and organization to make this happen. It was so very worth it!”

This educational exchange will serve not only Dr. Retana as she moves forward in her career, but also her team and her patients for years to come. We are so happy to have been able to facilitate this valuable learning opportunity!

Happy Father’s Day! Today we recognize and celebrate the strength, love, and care of fathers around the world. Your loving dedication to your children and families provides invaluable comfort. Thank you for all that you do. 👨🏽‍🍼

Today we recognize the labor, love, and efforts of mothers around the world. Your endless care and compassion give children with CHD the space to learn and grow. With utmost appreciation, admiration, and love, Happy Mother’s Day from Heart to Heart! ♥️

This International Nurses Day, we highlight and celebrate the talented, dedicated nurses who care for patients across the country and around the world. Nurses are often the unsung heroes: they take care of patients before and after complex procedures, support families during trying moments, and make sure that quality medical care is provided to all patients. Thank you to all the amazing nurses who make our work possible!