Nicaragua Interventional Cardiology

Nicaragua Interventional Cardiology Mission

Led by Dr. Michael Womack from St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital in Boise, Idaho, our annual interventional cardiology mission to Hospital Infantil Manuel De Jesus Rivera La Mascota in Managua, Nicaragua will provide a range of life-saving procedures to children who would otherwise not have access to them, while providing hands-on training to a small team of local cardiologists at the public hospital.

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our Nicaragua team

LEAD SURGEON

Dr. Michael S. Womack
Pediatric Cardiologist
St. Luke's Children's Hospital
Dr. Michael Womack, MD is a Pediatric Cardiology Specialist in Boise, ID and has over 31 years of experience in the medical field. He graduated from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center At Dallas medical school in 1991.

mission dates

date

October 20 - 25, 2024

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LOCATION

Managua,
Nicaragua

the need

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and the second-poorest in the Western Hemisphere. With a population of 6 million, 48% live below the poverty line; 80% subsist on less than $2 dollars a day. The government provides universal medical care, but funds and resources are meager for speciality care. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death for all ages and a diagnosis of a heart condition, such as mitral valve stenosis, is grim news that offers little in the way of hope.

No cardiology or pediatric cardiology training programs exist in the country. Dr. Womack’s mission provides the building blocks towards self-sustainment.

Dr. Womack sharing experiences - Nicaragua Mission Trip April 2022

Progress and Goals

Dr. Womack has been single-handedly building a coalition of Central American cardiologists (Dr. Rafael Gutierrez–Costa Rica; Dr. Aldo Campos–Panama; Dr. Christian Ramirez–Nicaragua); bringing them together on various missions to provide an exchange of knowledge and working hand-in-hand so that they may rely on each other between missions.
Dr. Womack’s focus on training has yielded remarkable improvement. He believes that the local team is on a trajectory toward competency in performing cases on their own, and with more missions, they will make strides toward achieving this goal.
Because Dr. Christian Ramirez is the only cardiologist at Hospital La Mascota, the impact of his training holds significance. Through Mending Kids’ support of Dr. Womack, these efforts will open the doors for Hospital La Mascota to build a cardiology department to serve the local pediatric community needs