International Pediatric Heart Surgery Project
The International Pediatric Heart Surgery Project was founded as part of the Children’s Heart Center and St Vincent Indianapolis’s commitment to fulfilling the mission of advocacy and care of the poor.
Through this effort, St. Vincent Indianapolis provided $500,000 in fiscal year 2009 for life-saving heart surgery for children from impoverished areas such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Mongolia, Honduras, Kenya and Haiti. These countries have minimal health care available for the treatment of congenital heart disease, and without surgery these children would not survive.
There is no charge to the child’s family. Our cardiothoracic surgeon and physicians of the Children’s Heart Center, as well as pediatric anesthesiologists, intensivists, and other members of Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St.Vincent donate their skills and time in caring for these children.
Since the first patient arrived in February 2000, the program has provided life-saving care for 89 children. This program works with individual volunteers, local church congregations, and organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse in order to coordinate and provide:
- Transportation
- Visas
- Host families
- Interpreter services
The lives of those who have had the opportunity to assist in caring for these children have been touched forever. For more information contact Sara Bodenmiller at sjbodenm@stvincent.org.