San Jose, Costa Rica

Approximately 700 babies are born with congenital heart disease (CHD) in Costa Rica every year. Unfortunately, hundreds of children and adults still lack access to the cardiac care they desperately need. In November 2021, a Heart to Heart team of medical volunteers and staff traveled to San Jose to conduct our first cardiac training mission, marking the beginning of our collaboration with the National Children’s Hospital, Hospital Nacional de Niños (HNN). Heart to Heart teams have since returned to HNN three times (March 2022, October 2022, and March 2023). We are currently working with HNN leaders to determine the next steps in our collaboration with the shared goal of expanding access to cardiac care for all children in the country!

Additionally, in September 2023, Heart to Heart conducted our first cardiac training mission to Hospital San Juan de Dios (HSJD), one of three public adult cardiac programs in Costa Rica. We had the opportunity to teach and train local specialists how to perform minimally invasive surgical valve repairs. We look forward to continuing to work with the talented cardiac specialists at HSJD in the years to come.

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