Heart Care International, a non-profit US medical organization, will be sending 98 physicians and staff to the DR to operate on needy children. The physicians use their vacation time to contribute to the needy of other countries. The organization will also be teaching local physicians to perform the operations. HCI physicians will be back next year. Baninter, a local bank, will be picking up their local transportation, lodging and per diem costs. The operations will take place at the Materno Infantil hospital at the Plaza de la Salud in Santo Domingo. A first group of 11 physicians has already arrived for the first surgeries. Heart Care International comes to the DR through the efforts of Dominican José Norberto, a cardiovascular surgeon who works closely with Dr. Robert Michler, president of the non-profit organization in the United States. Patients who will benefit have been referred by the Corazones Unidos, Robert Reid Cabral Hospital, Arturo Grullón, Central Romana, and Armed Forces hospitals.
