Gift of Life of Central New York >> Success Stories

Surgeries Performed in the United States

Mission Impact in the Dominican Republic

Mission Impact in Romania

Surgeries Performed in the United States

Since our founding, we have directly sponsored or supported 355 surgeries in the United States. These surgeries were truly life saving, as the facilities to conduct them simply don’t exist in the home country of the children beneficiaries.

Often, these surgeries take place locally at leading medical facilities like the Albany Medical Center. We have also worked with hospitals throughout the NY area and New England. By working with several hospitals, we are able to maximize the support we can provide without overburdening the hospitals which so graciously volunteer their time, expertise and facilities.

Mission Work

Mission Work in host countries is always the preferred way to provide the life saving support we do, as it is typically at about 1/3 the cost of bringing patients to the U.S. However, not every country has the facilities, expertise, or potential capability. Gift of Life of Central New York has completed 28 Mission Trips to 6 countries, with particular success and commitment in the Dominican Republic and Romania.

Mission Impact in the Dominican Republic

Beginning in 2003, Gift of Life of Central New York has made 15 separate Mission trips to the Dominican Republican which has led to helping 286 children and their families with life saving support, including 171 surgeries and 115 catheterizations.

Mission Impact in Romania

We began Mission work in Romania in 2016 and have been back each year since. To date, we have directly contributed to or supported 117 surgeries and 38 catheterizations. We are most proud of the accomplishments of the team from Romania, which in 2018 completed 41 surgeries at home and sent a team to Israel where they helped 9 other children. This is the best example of a teaching model that maximizes the reach and effectiveness of our work.

Mission Impact in El Salvador

Our strategy is to help develop sustainable pediatric cardiac centers of excellence and the empower doctors and nurses to treat children in their country or region of birth. We have been instrumental in creating and sustaining the center at Bloom Hospital in El Salvador, which treats over 200 children a year.