Paediatric Cardiovascular Programme: heartbeats of hope for children

The HOMS Foundation and The Global Cardiac Alliance perform operations as a social commitment to human solidarity.

In the north of the country, an estimated more than 300 children currently need cardiovascular surgery for a congenital heart defect present at birth, and most of their families lack the financial resources for them to be treated or operated on.

For this reason, Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago (HOMS), through the HOMS Foundation, its Cardiovascular Center and the Global Cardiac Alliance (Dr. William M. Novick), held a paediatric cardiovascular programme to provide high-quality surgical care to children from low-income communities, restoring their health and offering a decisive solution to their heart conditions. This covers several types of interventions needed to save their lives, with the fundamental aim of offering safe, quality medical care through effective and comprehensive operations.

Eleven operations were performed, including procedures to correct ventricular septal defects (VSD), atrial septal defects (ASD) and atrioventricular septal defects (AVSD), as well as catheterisations. Dr. Santiago García, cardiologist and director of the HOMS Cardiovascular Center, said that sustainable healthcare for children with heart disease is a social responsibility that HOMS and the HOMS Foundation consider one of their priorities.

“Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago’s paediatric cardiovascular programmes respond to the social commitment it has had since its beginnings: to be a hospital for the whole population. These programmes are aimed at people with the fewest resources, with the support of the HOMS Foundation for human solidarity. This time, the team has been joined by The Global Cardiac Alliance, a foundation dedicated to sustainable healthcare for children with heart disease in low- and middle-income countries, led by Dr. William Novick, a world authority,” said Dr. García.

He also pointed out how HOMS, a hospital with Accreditation Canada (Gold) status for meeting the protocols and standards that guarantee the delivery of safe, quality, people-centred health services, provides the platform to offer these services, with a guarantee of good results thanks to the right equipment and a multidisciplinary professional medical staff, together with Dr. Novick.

“We have started with simpler operations and will progress to more complex cases of paediatric cardiology with congenital heart disease. The aim is for the programme to become established over time as a regular programme at the hospital, because we have paediatric cardiovascular surgeons, as well as cardiologists and paediatric intensivists on the team. In a population like ours in the Cibao region, there are thought to be around 300 children who need cardiovascular surgery for a congenital heart defect present at birth, so it is very important for us to have an established programme, which is a commitment of the HOMS Foundation and all of us,” said the cardiologist.

“Fanuel now has a healthy heart”

Evangely Sánchez Terrero, mother of 7-year-old Fanuel, who was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect (ASD) and operated on during the paediatric cardiovascular programme, says her child has made significant progress, improving his quality of life and life expectancy.

“Fanuel is very happy, he has put on weight, he is healthier, and like all of us in the family, he is extremely grateful and happy to have a healthy heart now. I am very grateful to God; there are no words to describe the happiness I feel seeing my child healthy. Before, there were days of anguish and sadness. I am very grateful to the whole team, to HOMS and to all my colleagues who helped us,” said Fanuel’s mother.

For Dr. Jorge Paulino, Executive Director of the HOMS Foundation, the time is right to expand the paediatric programmes to more communities and their children.

“This programme stems from the Foundation’s existing commitment, through HOMS, to provide this social support to low-income patients. It also continues the regular programmes this hospital has run in adult cardiac care, general surgery, orthopaedics, paediatric orthopaedics and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients,” stressed Dr. Paulino.

He also noted that, in addition to the operations, several patients were assessed for future procedures in upcoming programmes, including open-heart surgery and cardiac catheterisation. “Now we are going one step further, bringing this hope to children, who represent the future and deserve access to quality care whatever their circumstances. Our commitment is not only to save lives, but to inspire real change in access to health for the most vulnerable communities. Each programme is a reminder of what we can achieve when we join forces to make an impact where it is needed most,” he concluded.

About the Cardiovascular Center

It is HOMS’s service dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease, offering comprehensive, personalised and multidisciplinary care with the full range of available diagnostic and therapeutic resources.

About the HOMS Foundation

The HOMS Foundation was created on the initiative of Dr. Rafael Sánchez Español, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and under the leadership of José Clase, President of the Foundation, to help build a better and fairer society, bring opportunities to those who need them most and develop solutions for social progress, training, care and scientific research.