Gift of Life International

The concept of a 'mission' has taken on new meaning to Gift of Life International ("goli"). As we have evolved, the need to send expert teams of healthcare professionals to the countries we work with has become greater. There are now three distinct types of 'missions' which goli sponsors and coordinates.diagnostic screening missionthis type of 'mission' is designed to identify children from a specific country that are in need of treatment for their heart disease. We have found that it is cost-effective to send a well-trained team consisting of a pediatric cardiologist, echo technician and nurse to an affiliated hospital in a partner country for one week to screen 100 children. The children that are identified as in need of treatment will then be treated throughout the global network of Gift of Life International. We regularly have conducted such 'missions' to the dominican republic, belize, el salvador, uganda, kosova, and haiti.medical missionsmedical 'missions' have become an essential method for goli to help provide care to children who will not have any other chance at a healthy Life. We are now sending teams of professional healthcare providers to the philippines and haiti so that children on waiting lists in those countries will be treated in a systematic and strategic fashion. Our goal is to provide care to as many children as possible on these medical missions.training visitstraining visits have become essential aspects of our global initiative, 'our hearts are in...' through these training visits, we provide expert skills to the local teams in el salvador, uganda, bolivia, and jamaica. Such visits are essential in our goal of empowering the doctors and nurses to care for their own children. The traditional training visit team will consist of a pediatric cardiac surgeon, anesthesiologist, perfusionist, two intensive care doctors, a respiratory therapist, 5 pediatric cardiac intensive care unit nurses, and a pediatric cardiologist. Each team member will help with patient care while working to transfer their knowledge and skills to the members of the in country team.over the past 5 years, we have worked to create regional centers of excellence in uganda, el salvador, bolivia, and jamaica. In selecting these countries, we applied the following criteria: (1) supportive and invested government, (2) motivated and involved hospital administration, (3) established pediatric cardiac surgery program, and (4)existing in-country non-governmental organization to support the program.the care we provide our children and their families goes beyond the walls of the hospital. We have developed innovative nutritional, vocational, and family support programs that continue our involvement in the recovery of the children for months and years following their surgeries.in 2023, the Gift of Life global network treated over 5,000. This is the first time in a calendar year that our network has helped this many children. Over 99% of the children we provide care to are treated in their country of birth.we are committed to ensuring the healthiest and happiest futures for our children and their families. During fiscal year 2023, over $10,000,000 of medical services were donated by the various professionals; equipment was purchased for hospitals overseas and the staff at the hospitals were trained on the use of the equipment, providing a tremendous level of leveraged results to goli's services; and a support system was developed to provide an ongoing impact even after the medical teams return from their missions.