Philippine Regional Cardiac Missions

The Mending Kids story and partnership with the Philippine Heart Center (PHC) began in 2011 with 2 joint cardiac missions to Cambodia. The PHC team, led by Filipino Dr. Jhuliet Baldaras, inspired by the experience, returned home whereupon the PHC developed its own pediatric cardiac surgical program in the Philippines, modeled after the Mending Kids missions program. The program was designed to deploy a PHC team across the archipelago of the country to reach underserved pediatric populations who would otherwise not be able to access the critical surgical care that they need.

Mission Manager: Jhuliet Balderas, Intensivist, Philippine Heart Center, Manila
Lead Surgeon: Gerardo S. Manzo, Deputy Executive Director of Medical Services, Philippine Heart Center, Manila

Since 2013, the PHC has been committed to establishing Regional Heart Centers in all 17 regions of the Philippines by intensively training hospital and surgical personnel to provide open and closed-heart surgeries, along with training local providers in specialized cardiac procedures and recovery for children.

The PHC is confident in its mission and vision to be responsive to the health needs of Filipino patients and to improve the health status of the Filipino people by providing easy access to the highest standards of cardiovascular care. Almost 300 children have benefitted from this outreach program to date.

In addition, the Regional Heart Centers are quickly gaining the trust of patients in their capability to perform highly specialized cardiac procedures.

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From 2013-2018, the PHC developed 6 Regional Heart Centers in association with Mending Kids and several other organizations, and thanks to the support from the Philippines Department of Health. The goal of this initiative is to seek support for regional missions to: Batangas Medical Center, Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, Baguio General Hospital, Northern Mindanao Medical Center, and Amai Pakpak Medical Center (ARMM). The aim is to further elevate the standards of care, and ultimately convert them into recognized accredited centers with the ability to deliver cardiovascular care (surgeries and interventions) to children who would not otherwise have access to it nor could afford to travel to the capital, Manila, to receive it.
Children whose conditions are too complex to be corrected during the regional missions will be referred to the PHC in Manila. Mending Kids supports some of these cases through our Individual Surgical Care program.

SUPPORT or fundraise for THE MISSIONS:

Mission supported by:

Ministry of Health/Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Philippines Charity Sweepstakes Office, Philippine Airlines Foundation, Rotary Foundation, Inc., Children’s Heart Foundation and the Heart Warriors of the Philippines, Inc.