History
Providing Free Heart Surgery to Children with Heart Disease in Developing Countries
The Surgeons of Hope Foundation (SoH) is a New York City, NY based nonprofit established in 2001 by Alain Deloche, MD, the founder of Médecins du Monde and co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières to provide every infant and child with a damaged heart the opportunity to receive life-saving surgery.
It is unconscionable that a child dies from a heart defect (congenital or acquired) due to a lack of resources for proper care. Thankfully, young people living in the U.S. or Europe can easily be cured. The same cannot be said for kids in poorer countries. SOH seeks to narrow that disparity by living up to its motto: "It’s not what we bring. It’s what we leave behind."
SOH has developed a sustainable strategy to provide care to children in need of heart surgery. It approached the need on three key fronts by giving urgently needed care, cultivating skills in local medical teams, and constructing or equipping centers of care in developing countries.
SOH began this mission with pilot programs in Cambodia, Mozambique, Senegal, and Afghanistan.
In 2008, SOH decided to focus its efforts in Latin America and established a program in Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Since then, we've constructed an advanced cardiac center, provided training to local medical teams, screened thousands of patients, and operated on ~ 800 children.
In 2014, SOH started working in Costa Rica and drastically improved medical outcomes and proctored the implementation of a system that helps detect CHD and the need for early treatment.
In 2019, Paraguay, SoH began working with the Hospital Acosta Ñu in Lorenzo and since then over 600 children with heart problems have been helped.
In 2022, SoH conducted an assessment mission to the Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez in July 2022.
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Leadership
Eduardo da Cruz, MD
Board Co-Chair
Richard Duron
Board Co-Chair
Nathalie Le Bos
Board Treasurer
Paul Chai, MD
Board Member
David Chitayat
Board Member
Esteban Agüero Guier
Board Member
Christian Pizarro, MD
Board Member
Luca Vricella, MD
Board Member
Blaire G. Bloxom
Board Member
Administration
Diana Chinchilla
Operations and Missions Director
