The director of the Clinica Corazones Unidos, one of the most well-known charitable private clinics in the D.R., has complained that several patients destined to receive kidney transplants have not been given new organs and subsequently died. Dr. Luis Cuello Mainardi claims that of approximately 100 transplants that are needed in the D.R. every year, only 12 are performed due to what he calls “lack of resources”. Despite the gloomy news, Dr. Cuello Mainardi says that one transplant per month is being performed at the clinic, and that as the financial status of the institution improves, more will be performed. In the meantime, hundreds of patients are kept on dialysis machines, waiting for kidney donors and financial assistance to help pay for the operations.
In related news, the Fundación Corazones Unidos, which assists poor children with health ailments, recently sent 75 youngsters with conditions such as birth defects, heart problems and severe burns, among others, to the United States for operations free of charge as part of an agreement with the Healing the Children Organization. This is the ninth year that 75 children have been sent to the U.S. for treatment under this arrangement. Dr. Cuello Mainardi told the news media that President Balaguer paid the costs of the airline tickets to New York, and praised the U.S. Consulate in Santo Domingo for its help in issuing visas for the children.
10-16 May 1996