CHADASHA’S WORK
501(c)(3) CHARITY BRINGING LIFESAVING HEART SURGERIES TO CHILDREN IN POVERTY
The Chadasha Foundation has ongoing partnerships in three countries: Bolivia, Dominican Republic, and Guyana. Volunteer medical teams visit each country 3 times a year to perform pediatric heart surgeries and train local medical teams.
Cedimat
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, since 2020
Annual Visits
Procedures a Year
- During the pandemic, we supplemented staffing needs to help prevent closure of CEDIMAT, the only center in the country providing pediatric cardiac surgery.
- In 2023 a core group of 4 bilingual nurse educators traveled to CEDIMAT every 3 months and delivered education to local ICU nurses.
- Our surgical team has been introducing new procedures and complex clinical management to the local team.
- In 2023 we helped make history with the first implant of a percutaneous pulmonary valve in a patient in the Caribbean; this procedure avoids opening the patient’s chest to implant a new valve.
The Dominican Republic is a country of 12 million people, including 2 million Haitian refugees. CEDIMAT is still the only pediatric cardiac center in the whole country.
Children’s Hospital
La Paz, Bolivia, since 2022
Children are on a waiting list for cardiac surgery
Procedures a year
- The local medical team is now performing more surgeries and more complicated surgeries.
- We opened a new 4-bed Cardiac Intensive Care Unit in October 2024; we will continue expanding ICU capacity.
- We increased the annual number of pediatric cardiac surgeries from 36 per year to 99 in 2023.
- The local medical team published a clinical paper in a prestigious cardiac journal, Cardiology in the Young, adding vital professional representation from a low/middle-income country.
Children’s Hospital
Georgetown, Guyana, since 2023
Children Treated
%
of the country's waiting list
- We are working to establish a dedicated Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
- We are building capacity for the local cardiac and surgery team to provide its own cardiac medical care to Guyanese children.
Guyana has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the region and lacks pediatric cardiac services for critically ill children. A strong commitment over the next five years is crucial to real progress there.
Children’s Hospital
Honduras
Visits
Surgeries
STORIES THAT INSPIRE
Real Lives, Real Change
For six-year-old Nadin Vickram from Herstelling, East Bank Demerara, Guyana, life has already been a journey of resilience and hope. From the time he was a baby, his...
Chadasha and GOLI Deliver Lifesaving Cardiac Care to Children in Guyana Chadasha, in partnership with Gift of Life International (GOLI), successfully completed another...
Honduras: This is a new site for Chadasha and Gift of Life International. Our clinical team, led by Dr. Rodrigo Soto, was in San Pedro Sula from July 19th to the 26th....
From May 31st to June 7th, a team of healthcare providers from our strategic partner, Gift of Life International (GOLI), led by Dr. Rodrigo Soto, visited CEDIMAT...
Chadasha’s mission of Saving Lives, and Building Capacity in Guyana In an inspiring demonstration of long-term impact and commitment to sustainable healthcare, Chadasha...
I suppose that because I was on the board of directors of the international children’s heart foundation located in Memphis, Tennessee with its founder being an ex...
I want to tell Darline’s story now. I was in Fon Parisien, doing work there—among the poorest of the poor. After we had completed medical clinics for 10 to 12 hours...
Fedia and her Retinoblastoma I first met Laurette and Haiti in one of the clinics that we were treating the poorest of the poor of Haiti. She was greatly...
Fedia and her Retinoblastoma We had just finished the hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic, which is about 500 yards from Haiti. We have done many medical...
