Upcoming Missions in North and Central America
Dr. Robert Ross and his team from Children’s Hospital of Michigan will be returning to the DR. The goal after…
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This project location, while having a rudimentary “hospital” in reality, is held in a field first aid clinic with a storage…
Read moreThis mission has an active presurgical screening team on the ground onsite which continues care for these children between mission…
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Mission Stories from North and Central America
Your donations put to work. Thoughts and updates from the front lines.
Report from CaboSmiles Mission to Mexico February 2024
Partnership Projects of Children’s Lifeline™ & Smiles International Number of patients screened for review: 50 Number of cases selected for reconstruction on 4.5 day mission surgical days: 17 Total number of cases operated: 17 Surgical reconstructive procedures performed: 59 (reason…
Report from TecateSmiles Mission to Mexico November 2023
Partnership Projects of Children’s Lifeline™ & Smiles International Number of patients pre-screened via telemedicine for review with treatment plan constructed: 42 Number of cases presenting on-site for new or confirmation screening: 27 Number of cases selected for reconstruction on 2.5…
Report from CaboSmiles Mission to Mexico August 2023
Partnership Projects of Children’s Lifeline™ & Smiles International Number of patients screened for review: 40 Cases selected for reconstruction on 4.5 day mission surgical days: 19 Number of cases rescheduled due to successful onsite Speech Language Therapy: 2 Number of…
Report from TecateSmiles Mission to Mexico May 2023
Partnership Projects of Children’s Lifeline™ & Smiles International Number of patients prescreened via new remote answering service: 38 Cases pre-selected for reconstruction on 2.5 day mission surgical days: 16 Number of cases rescheduled due to medical reasons developed: 6 Number…
Report from CaboSmiles Mission to Mexico February 2023
Partnership Projects of Children’s Lifeline™ & Smiles International Number of patients prescreened via new remote answering service: 45 Cases selected for reconstruction on 4.5 day mission surgical days: 22 Number of cases canceled due to transportation conflict from La Paz:…
Report from TecateSmiles Mission to Mexico November 2022
Partnership Projects of Children’s Lifeline™ & Smiles International Number of patients prescreened via new remote answering service: 210 Number of patients allowed to come for anesthesia clearance: 15 Cases selected for reconstruction on 2.5 day mission surgical days: 9 Number…
Results of April 2022 Cardiac Mission to Dominican Republic
They had a very successful trip led by Dr. Robert Ross. Seven doctors and one nurse were part of the mission. They were able to teach and mentor the local team and performed 10 open heart operations, 16 catheterizations in…
Status of Panama Pediatric Cardiac Program
Panama and Central American Pediatric Cardiology MissionsSummary as of Jan 2020. History:Children’s Lifeline originally contacted pediatric heart surgeon Ross Ungerleider, at OHSU at that time, about starting pediatric heart surgical missions to Panama (Annie Mendenhall was a specific contact.) Ross…
Panama / Dr. Michael Womack / Children’s Lifeline
1) It is hard to be as excited about diagnostic caths or TEE (trans-esophageal echo) as interventional caths, but when they are the only way to know how to take care of someone, they are obviously critically useful. One patient…
Panama / Dr. Michael Womack / Children’s Lifeline
Overall, another good trip. We lost a day in the lab with a water main bursting in the street by the hospital. But we had some “firsts” on the trip in terms of devices used in a couple of situations,…
Dominican Republic / CEDIMAT Hospital
Surgical Team Make-Up: 1 pediatric surgeon 2 pediatric anesthesiologist 2 pediatric cardiologists 3 pediatric ICU physicians 1 pediatric ICU registered nurse 1 Respiratory Therapist 1 pump perfusionist NEW FACILITY: The new building is beautiful, spacious and well equipped with all…
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
CardioStart undertook a mission to the Clinica Corazones Unidos Hospital. The mission focused entirely on developing and teaching the management of children needing congenital cardiac correction. The staff worked on a total of 7 children (ages from 2 years -…
Yucatan, Mexicao / Mercy Children’s Hospital, Des Moines / American Airlines Miles for Kids
Every year we send children from the Yucatan to the US to receive Cardiac Care. Thanks to American Airlines Miles for Kids Program.
Mexico / American Airlines Miles for Kids / Children’s Center at Mercy Hospital, Des Moines
In 2014 American Airlines has brought over 10 children from the Yucatan to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. Treating children with Tetrology of Fallot (TOF), cardiac catheterization and VSD.
June – Panama Mission: Children’s Lifeline / St. Luke’s Boise
Pediatric Cardiologist, Michael S. Womack, who has been a Lifeline Mission leader for many years writes that “…we are up to 324 catheterizations on these children in Panama, and over 60 catheterizations for the entire project. These were all mostly…
June – Honduras: Children’s Lifeline / AMIGA
“Despite torrential rains, this was a busy and eventful trip providing healthcare to 2000 patients in just 5 days… 65% of those were infants, children and newborns,” writes Dr. P. Tatachar who led this successful Mission to Honduras For this…
Congratulations Dr. Womack
Cardiologist Michael S. Womack, a longtime Lifeline mission leader received the highest decoration in Panama for someone who is not a head of state. During the opening of the 2012 Central America and Caribbean Cardiology Congress, the Panama Minister of…
April to October – Children’s Lifeline / American Airlines & Mercy Hospital
YUCATAN From April through October of this year, the tri-partite network of Lifeline, American Airlines and Mercy Hospital of Des Moines addressed the cardiac needs of 25 children. The children ranged in age from 19 months to 17 years. Every…
October – Panama: Children’s Lifeline / Oregon Health & Science University
A multinational mission group led by Dr. Womack traveled to Panama in October 2012. The group included two pediatric cardiologists from Nicaragua and Costa Rica and two from Panama. The goal was to establish regional cooperation between the three countries. …
Jan/Feb – Dominican Republic: Children’s Lifeline / Children’s Hospital of Michigan
The team of eight led by Dr. Rob Ross and Dr. Daniel Turner had a head start on evaluating patients this year because of a detailed PowerPoint presentation provided by the CEDIMAT Hospital in Santo Domingo prior to the team’s…
September – Panama: Children’s Lifeline / Oregon Health and Science University
The four member team of pediatric cardiologists, led by Dr. Seshadri Balaji and Dr. Jack Kron, specializing in ablations for heart arrhythmia in children, visited the Hospital del Nino the public hospital in Panama. The hospital is dedicated to providing…
July – Yucatan: Children’s Lifeline / Mercy Medical Center / American Airlines
In 2011, we have planned with Mercy Medical Center and Dr. Stephen Mooradian along with American Airlines to bring 25 children (5 of the children are featured below) to Des Moines, Iowa to receive life saving cardiac procedures to correct…
February – Dominican Republic: Children’s Lifeline / Children’s Hospital of Michigan
Dr. Robert Ross and Dr. Daniel Turner returned to the Dominican Republic for their 8th mission. They consulted on 33 cases and performed 11 catheter procedures and operated on 8 patients. As with most of our missions, the emphasis was…
July/November – Mexico: Children’s Lifeline / Smiles International Foundation
Dr. Jeffrey Moses of Smiles International Foundation and Tri-City Medical Center led missions to Tecate, Mexico in July and November . They identified 58 children for possible surgery and 25 of these children received immediate reconstructive surgery. In all 68…
Jan/Mar/Aug – Panama: Children’s Lifeline / Doernbecker Children’s Hospital
Dr. Womack of Doernbecker Children’s Hospital at the Oregon Health and Science University and Pediatric Cardiology / Boise Idaho led three separate missions to Panama, one in January, one in March and another in August of 2009. While there he…
May – Haiti: Children’s Lifeline / The Brooklyn Hospital
The Brooklyn Hospital Center led by Drs. Patrick LeBlanc and Louisdon Pierre, both neonatologists went to Haiti in May 2009. There they conducted 20 hours of bedside rounds in addition to training nurses and residents along with providing workshops and…
January – Dominican Republic: Children’s Lifeline / Children’s Hospital of Michigan
The mission to the Dominican Republic in January and February led by Drs. Robert Ross and Daniel Turner of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan performed 7 surgeries and 15 catheterizations. The teams were also able to train doctors and nurses…