San Jose, Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a Central American nation home to approximately five million people. Known for its laid-back culture and welcoming people, Costa Rica is considered an international tourist destination, where visitors can hike up volcanoes, taste exotic fruits, and see rare animals creep, crawl, and fly.

Costa Ricans, affectionately known as ticos, are known for their commonly used catchphrase, “pura vida,” meaning “pure life.” Taken from a 1950s Mexican film, this phrase came to life in Costa Rica, where it can be used to mean any number of things in diverse situations—from “All is well,” to “that’s life!”

In Costa Rica, there are four major public hospitals that provide cardiac care to the entire population—in addition to visitors from abroad and migrants from neighboring countries. Nearly 500 babies are born with congenital heart disease (CHD) in Costa Rica every year. But unfortunately, hundreds of them still lack access to the cardiac care they desperately need.

Going Global Campaign partner site: our first
Number of Surgical Missions: six
Children born annually with CHD: nearly 500

Our first foothold in Latin America

The launch of Heart to Heart’s first collaboration in Costa Rica with the National Children’s Hospital (HNN), in 2021, marked the initiation of a new campaign to expand and advance nationwide access to cardiac care in Costa Rica.

Two years later, in 2023, Heart to Heart established our first adult educational collaboration with San Juan de Dios Hospital (HSJD). A team of Heart to Heart volunteers returned to San Jose in November 2024, this time to work alongside teams at all three cardiac centers who serve Costa Rica’s adult population.

In March 2025, Heart to Heart signed a five-year Cooperative Agreement with Costa Rica’s central healthcare body, the Costa Rican Social Security Administration (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social, or CCSS). The agreement between the CCSS and Heart to Heart outlines the roles and responsibilities of each partner and articulates how our two organizations will collaborate to advance and expand heart care for all children and adults in Costa Rica.

We are truly honored to be the first international humanitarian organization to be formally recognized by the CCSS as a partner in this noble pursuit and we look forward to continuing our collaborative work with the talented cardiac specialists in Costa Rica for years to come.