1. Humanitarian Efforts
Our program has been committed to several humanitarian efforts to narrow the global disparity in thedelivery of congenital cardiac care. Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect in the
world, impacting nearly 1% of all live births. Over 90% of children in the world who are in need of asurgical intervention for congenital heart disease do not have access to care.
a) Heart Gift San Antonio
Heart Gift, San Antonio was established in 2008. Its purpose is to bring children from underserved regions of the world to San Antonio for corrective heart surgery. To date, 47 patients have received
corrective surgery through this program. Since UT Health San Antonio partnered with University Health System, we have performed corrective surgery on 13 patients from 7 different countries. These countries include Uganda, Mongolia, Philippines, Honduras, Bolivia, Kenya and Jamaica.
b) Medical Humanitarian Trip to Palestine and the Gaza Strip
In October of 2016, a 10-person team from University Health System and UT Health San Antonio embarked on a 10-day trip to the Gaza Strip and performed corrective surgical procedures on nine children with congenital heart disease. This is the seventh time a trip has been made by team members to the Middle East, with a total of over 100 patients receiving surgical intervention.
2. Optum Center of Excellence Designation
As of January 2016, Optum has designated 19 congenital heart programs in the US as Centers of Excellence. Our program at University Health System/UT Health San Antonio is one of those centers and one of only three in the state of Texas. Per their website, Optum states: “Patients with complex medical conditions are more likely to get better care when they are treated by experienced, knowledgeable physicians, and better care leads to shorter hospital stays, higher success rates, faster recoveries and lower costs. At Optum, we have provided access to clinically superior, cost-effective health care for complex medical conditions since 1986. Find out how we can assist you or your organization.”
myoptumhealthcomplexmedical.com/gateway/public/chd/chd.jsp
Our program received renewal of this designation in January of 2017.