I N T E R N A T I O N A L M E D I C A L
O U T R E A C H P R O G R A M
Sustainable Healthcare through
Donations and Education
The International Medical Outreach (IMO) program
provides medical and educational assistance
globally to promote sustainable healthcare and
improved living standards in underserved
communities.
O U R
I M P A C T
For more than 50 years, IMO has touched the
lives of thousands of patients and families in 29
countries. Ongoing support from institutions,
individuals and non-profit partners allows IMO to
offer free educational opportunities to international
medical personnel and free equipment to hospitals
and clinics in need worldwide.
O U R
C O M M I T M E N T
Unlike most charitable organizations, IMO spends
100 percent of donated funds on designated
projects. There are neither fundraising costs nor
administrative expenses.
Dear Reader:
We are excited to update you on our accomplishments and ongoing projects in 2012.
The year was marked by contributions to and participation in milestone events in Central America, where we are helping change the face of healthcare, provide specific cardiac services, and promote public education.
In Belize, we are sending volunteer cardiology and cardiac surgery teams to perform diagnostic studies. As a result, we assisted the local medical team in performing the first heart catheterizations and first open heart operations in the country. These successful interventions were only part of our ongoing efforts to develop a sustainable, multi-faceted cardiology program in Belize City.
In December, we donated a second cardiac catheterization laboratory to the National Cardiology Center in Managua, Nicaragua. It is the country's first public mobile cath lab and will help fill the region's growing need for cardiac services by doubling the number of procedures the Center performs.
We also assisted in opening a computer laboratory in a public school in
Chimaltenango, Guatemala. In 2012, we donated more than 6,000 computers to Technology to Educate, an initiative that seeks to equip 19,000 public schools with computers and modernize public education in Guatemala.
At home in Charlotte, NC, we hosted 20 international visitors and trainees, who traveled from countries such as Tanzania, Liberia and Haiti to observe and deliver care in our medical facilities. Our Charlotte-based medical personnel continues to travel abroad to teach and assist with heart operations and other medical
procedures.
We hope you enjoy this report, which provides a glimpse of our activities in 2012.
Francis Robicsek, MD, PhD
Vice President, International Medical Outreach, Carolinas HealthCare System President, Heineman Foundation of Charlotte
A YEAR IN REVIEW
Donated nearly pieces of medical equipment in countries, worth if purchased new390
11
$
4
million
2 BELIZE CONGO COSTA RICA GHANA GUATEMALA GUATEMALA HAITI HONDURAS NICARAGUANORTH CAROLINA, USA SYRIA
TANZANIA
– Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, Belize City – Knights of Malta, St. Paul Boyange
– FUNDIPAM, San José
– Glimpse of Hope-Albert Doku, Kintampo
– Guatemalan Heart Institute (UNICAR), Guatemala City – Guatemalan Public School System
– Cambry Orphanage Health Clinic, Les Cayes – Clinic Ixchel, Copan Ruinas
– Centro Nacional de Cardiología, Managua – Dilworth Soup Kitchen, Charlotte – MedWish, rural Damascus, Idib and Aleppo
– Muhimbili National Hospital Emergency Department, Dar es Salaam
A YEAR IN REVIEW
Donated nearly
pieces of computer equipment and materials,
enough to assemble more than computers, worth if purchased new
13,200
6,000
$
2
million
O U R
G R E E N
I M P A C T
We believe that good health is also the outcome of a clean environment. Part of our
mission is to provide sustainable healthcare while helping reduce the impact of medical waste.
In 2012, the IMO program recycled more than
of medical equipment
GLOBAL IMPACT
BELIZE* Bulgaria Cameroon China Congo Costa Rica Dominican Republic El Salvador England France Germany GUATEMALA* HAITI* HONDURAS* Hungary Israel Italy KENYA* Liberia Lithuania Macedonia MEXICO* Moldova NICARAGUA* Panama Romania Russia Syria TANZANIA*G U A T E M A L A
Donation of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories
The donations of two laboratories have increased access to cardiac care for thousands of patients in urban and rural areas. All laboratory donations are made possible through the support of the Bissell Family Foundation and the Bowen family.
Donation of Medical and Dental Equipment
Medical facilities of all sizes have benefited from equipment and supplies such as operating room tables, respirators, surgical supplies and echocardiography machines.
Echocardiography Training and Network Expansion
With help from the Dickson Foundation, IMO is in process of establishing and equipping at least 12 echocardiographic stations throughout Guatemala that can transfer test results to the Guatemalan Heart Institute in Guatemala City.
Physician Training in Cardiology/Surgery
Since the 1970s, IMO – in partnership with Carolinas HealthCare System’s Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute – has helped train cardiologists and surgeons from Central America. Such training resulted in the country’s first heart catheterizations and open heart surgery.
Technology to Educate Initiative
IMO has partnered with a local organization (Fundación Sergio Paiz Andrade) to establish computer laboratories for students in thousands of rural schools in Guatemala.
O U R R E A C H
* ONGOING PROJECTS
GLOBAL IMPACT
H O N D U R A S
N I C A R A G U A
M E X I C O
B E L I Z E
Donation of Hospital Equipment and Supplies
Such donations have helped hospitals create and maintain special departments and intensive care units.
Physician Training in Cardiology/Surgery
IMO and Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute physicians continue to train medical personnel and physicians from hospitals and clinics in Honduras.
Donation of Catheterization Laboratories
IMO's two laboratory donations have helped rebuild the country's National Center of Cardiology. Prior to the first donation, Nicaragua’s 6 million residents had no public heart catheterization laboratories. Today, one laboratory can perform 40 catheterizations per week.
Donation of Medical Equipment and Supplies
Medical facilities of all sizes have benefited from the equipment, supplies and fully functional outpatient facilities available to underserved populations, among other things.
Donation of Equipment and Supplies to School for Deaf Children
IMO continues to donate supplies such as hearing aids and books to the IREE School for the Deaf in San Miguel de Allende. The school is the only one of its kind in the region and serves low-income children.
Establishment of a Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Program
In an effort to create sustainable cardiac services at the public Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) in Belize City, IMO is helping establish a cardiology program that ensures ongoing echocardiography services, catheterizations and open heart surgeries.
Catheterization Training
Since the catheterization laboratory donation at KHMH, the IMO program has facilitated catheterization training for Belizean medical personnel.
Physician Training in Cardiology/Surgery
Over the past three years, IMO has helped train Belizean technicians to perform echocardiography and heart catheterizations. Today, it is helping KHMH’s only cardiac surgeon to perform open heart surgeries.
Establishing Infirmary and Health Clinic
In partnership with other organizations, IMO is taking steps to establish a major infirmary and health clinic in Haiti through the donation of medical equipment and supplies.
Donation of Medical Equipment and Supplies
IMO is helping provide medical equipment and supplies to the Jubilee Village Project in Kager. The goal is to create a fully stocked clinic that will provide much-needed medical services to residents in rural areas.
Development of Emergency Medicine Residency Program
Carolinas Medical Center (in Charlotte), in coordination with University of California-San Francisco and the University of Chicago, is developing a sister emergency medicine residency program in Dar es Salaam. IMO generously supports this initiative.
H A I T I
K E N Y A
BELIZE
F I R S T O P E N H E A R T S U R G E R Y
I N B E L I Z E
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the Central American Republic of Belize. Until 2011, when IMO began providing support, the country lacked modern cardiac diagnostic and interventional facilities. IMO donated and installed Belize’s first heart catheterization laboratory and started to select patients for cardiac interventions.
In July 2012, physicians from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) in Belize City and from Carolinas
HealthCare System performed the country’s first open heart surgery. Since then, volunteer cardiology and surgical teams from Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute have been lending their time and talents to assist the physicians of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital to perform cardiac interventions. This activity makes it possible for Belize's public medical facilities to offer advanced cardiac services. IMO will continue to send teams until a local interventional cardiologist is able to perform catheterizations alone. Procedures performed in the cath lab have helped identify several patients in need of open heart surgery.
6
“Today is the best day, the best day. I don't know how to describe it, but it means a lot to me because I'm so happy. I will be free.”
Emir Alfaro
First Open Heart Surgery Patient Belize City, Belize
Physicians from Carolinas HealthCare System and from KHMH perform the first open heart surgery in Belize.
A Carolinas HealthCare System nurse assists a KHMH nurse in the operating room.
BELIZE
“I went to get an operation for my bladder, then I found out I had a problem with my heart. We prayed to the good Lord, and he opened door for us. Dr. Coye and the doctors in [Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital] let you feel at home. The nurses, everything, was just perfect. The specialist that came down and talked to you so calm and nice that you get to trust them.”
Manuel Alfredo Acosta Open Heart Surgery Patient Belize City, Belize
Dr. Francis Robicsek checks in on an open heart surgery patient in recovery. A cardiology team from Charlotte performs catheterizations on
Belizean patients. These cath labs are donated with support from the Bissell Family Foundation.
GUATEMALA
8
Dr. Geoffrey Rose, from Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, talks about the new communication portal with Carolinas HealthCare System physicians and administrators.
First open heart surgery in Guatemala in 1972. Guatemala has always been a focus of the IMO program, in particular
the development and the support of the Guatemalan Heart Institute (UNICAR) in Guatemala City, the most comprehensive cardiac care institute in Central America.
Over the years, there has been a continued flow of support from Charlotte to Guatemala, including the shipping of fully equipped heart diagnostic laboratories capable of being used as a mobile unit or to be stationed at UNICAR to relieve overloaded facilities. The units are used extensively with several hundred heart catheterizations and other complex cardiac studies performed.
V I R T U A L C O M M U N I C A T I O N P O R T A L
The IMO program has taken on the task of bringing Guatemalan cardiac care into the digital age. It donated a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) that was used to establish a virtual communication portal between UNICAR and Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute in Charlotte. The portal is the first of its kind for the public hospital system in Central America and will enable cardiologists from each institute to consult with one another in real-time on complex cardiac diagnostic cases, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Plans include extending the communication portal in 2013 to Belize as well.GUATEMALA
T H E “ E C H O ” P R O J E C T
With the support of the Dickson Foundation, the program is in the process of establishing and equipping a network of 12 echocardiography stations throughout Guatemala, which will revolutionize heart care services in that country. IMO is continuously training technicians in Charlotte to perform the test in rural hospitals ordered by local general practitioners. The results are transferred to UNICAR, the Guatemalan Heart Institute in Guatemala City, for interpretation and results are relayed back to the local physician for consultation.
In 2012, the program celebrated the opening of echo laboratories at the Regional Hospitals in Escuintla and in Cuilapa-Santa Rosa. So far, four of the planned 12 echo stations are fully functional.
In addition to the Guatemalan echo-stations, IMO will establish and equip echo stations in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 2013.
Guatemalan Heart Institute (UNICAR) Regional Hospital Escuintla
Regional Hospital Quetzaltenango Regional Hospital Cuilapa-Santa Rosa Regional Hospital Coatepeque* Regional Hospital San Benito Petén* Regional Hospital Huehuetenango* Regional Hospital Quiché*
Regional Hospital Izabal* Regional Hospital Cobán* Regional Hospital San Marcos* Regional Hospital Zacapa*
Hospital Pro-Familia, San Salvador, El Salvador* *In Progress
E C H O N E T W O R K I N
C E N T R A L A M E R I C A
An echo tech in Escuintla performs an echocardiography on a patient.An echo tech from Carolinas HealthCare System works with an echo tech at Regional Hospital Cuilapa-Santa Rosa.
NICARAGUA
O P E N I N G O F A S E C O N D P U B L I C
C A T H E T E R I Z A T I O N L A B O R A T O R Y
In December, IMO donated a second cardiac catheterization laboratory to the National Cardiology Center in Managua, Nicaragua. It is the country's first public mobile cath lab and will allow cardiologists to potentially double the number of cardiac procedures they are able to perform, meeting the high healthcare demands of the region.
Since 2007, IMO has led projects aimed at improving the health of adult and pediatric patients in Nicaragua. It has repaired the older equipment of the intensive care unit at Manuel de Jesús Rivera (La Mascota) Pediatric Hospital, the country's largest pediatric facility. It also helped rebuild the country's only public cath lab, which had broken and remained unused for at least one year.
10
CARDIAC CATH LAB PROJECT
IMO has donated six cardiac
catheterization laboratories in Central America. These cath labs are also used to diagnose and perform life-saving procedures on patients experiencing heart attacks, chest pain or other symptoms of heart disease. The vast majority are mobile cath labs, which can be deployed to rural areas if needed.
The cath labs
treat
of
patients each year
who previously
had limited or no
access to this
unique cardiac
care service.
hundreds
“Last year, I had a heart attack. I thank God for the donors – they gave me an opportunity to live. I had only a few hours to live, but the cardiology center was open and the doctors were able to do a procedure on me. I thank God because [the donors and the center] provided me one more opportunity of life.”
Gerónimo Ramírez
Heart Catheterization Patient Managua, Nicaragua
A crowd of clinicians and community members joined to celebrate the opening of the catheterization laboratory at the National Cardiology Center.
VISITORS & TRAINEES
Mike MartinezBelize
[Echo Tech Trainee]
Flor de Lourdes Orantes Franco
Guatemala [Echo Tech Trainee]
Lillian Portillo
Belize
[Cath Lab Tech Trainee]
Marilyn Aspinal
Belize
[Cath Lab Manager Trainee]
Emmanuel Ekyinabah, MD Liberia [Oncology Physician] Humphrey Totoe Liberia [Oncology Nurse] Adrian Coye, MD Belize [Cardiology, Surgery] Fernando Cardona Guatemala [Information Technology]
Irma Yolanda Tax García
Guatemala [Echo Tech Trainee]
Jessica Hammer
Guatemala
[FUNSEPA Coordinator]
Tanya Marissa Bennett
Belize
[Cardiovascular Recovery Unit Nurse]
Marla Aisha Swaso
Belize
[Cardiovascular Recovery Unit Nurse]
Franklin Dawkins, MD Costa Rica [Anesthesiology] Hui Xu, MD China [Orthopaedics Fellow] James Kigera, MD Kenya [Orthopaedics Fellow] Jean Jacky, MD Haiti [Orthopaedics Fellow] Upendo George, MD Tanzania
[Emergency Medicine Resident]
12
Dr. Adrian Coye, from Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, Belize.
Theresa Johnson, Coordinator of IMO, with
VISITORS & TRAINEES
Faith Ringo, MDTanzania
[Emergency Medicine Resident]
Sifaeli Mgalula, MD
Tanzania
[Emergency Medicine Resident]
Philip Koka, MD
Tanzania
[Emergency Medicine Resident]
SPECIAL GUEST:Dr.Rafael Espada, former Vice President of Guatemala and cardiothoracic surgeon, made his first trip to Charlotte, NC, where he presented at a luncheon hosted by the World Affairs Council
of Charlotte.
Dr. Michael Runyeon, Carolinas HealthCare System Emergency Medicine, and Philip Koka, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania.
Dr. Ekyinahab, from Liberia, speaking with Dr. Derek Raghavan, President of Levine Cancer Institute. Marilyn Aspinal, from Belize, learns how to manage a
PARTICIPANTS, OFFICERS & BOARD
Heineman Foundation of Charlotte Officers
l
l Francis Robicsek, MD PhD, President l Anders Bergendahl, Vice President l Paul G. Colavita, MD, Vice President l Fernando Paiz, Vice President l Daniel G. Aceti, Secretary/Treasurer
Heineman Foundation of Charlotte Board of Directors
l Hoyt Q. Bailey l Maria Bergendahl l James J. Bissell l R. Stuart Dickson l Thomas K. Fehring, MD l Charles F. Furr l Marilyn J. Heineman l June C. Heineman-Morris l James E.S. Hynes l W. Duke Kimbrell l Nancy Lopez-Ibanez
l John Peter Rostan McBryde, MD l Hugh L. McColl, Jr. l James C. Olsen l Steven Robicsek, MD PhD l Thomas N. Roboz l Geoffrey A. Rose, MD l Jocelyn S. Rose l Karen R. Rossitch l Joan E. Heineman-Schur l Michael Schur, MD l Theodore B. Sumner, Jr. l Nan D. Van Every
Board of Medical & Technical Advisors
l John M. Fedor, MD l William L. Aikens l John Cedarholm, MD l Dennis R. Chadwick l Herman A. Godwin, Jr., MD l Norris B. Harbold, Jr., MD l Kevin W. Lobdell, MD
Richard E. Thigpen, Jr., Esq., Chairman
Thank you to all of our participants and volunteers
who have dedicated countless hours to helping the IMO program become what it is today.
14
Heineman board members and participants join IMO staff in a catheterization laboratory opening in Managua, Nicaragua.
Volunteers at the Heineman warehouse, where they assist with sorting and packaging donation equipment.
PARTNERS & DONORS
Individual DonorsMr. & Mrs. Dan Aceti
l Dr. Firas Alkassab
l Mr. & Mrs. Howard C. Bissell l Michael Blair l Mr. James Bostick l Mr. Claude A. Bridges l Mrs. Kathryn L. Bridges l Dr. William Caldwell l Dr. John Cedarholm l Dr. John Fedor l Mr. George Fleming, Jr. l Mr. Jeff Friedman l Ann L. Harry l Mr. Duke Kimbrell l Ms. Amy H. Lipshay l Mrs. Frances W. Lumpkin l Dr. & Mrs. JP McBryde l Dr. John Merrill l Ms. Gisela Michalski l Albert G. Myers, Jr. l Mr. & Mrs. Fernando Paiz l Dr. Geoffrey A. Rose l Mr. & Mrs. Albert F. Sloan l Mr. Tommy Stephens
l Mrs. Captain Salem A Van Every, Jr. l Mr. Stephen Wise
l
Foundations & Corporations
Bassett Furniture Industries
l Bracco
l Carolinas College of Health Sciences l Carolinas HealthCare Foundation l Carolinas HealthCare System l Chiquita
l Cordis l Covidien
l Dickson Foundation l Dilworth Soup Kitchen l Dover Foundation, Inc. l Duke Realty
l The Edwards Lifesciences Fund l Fundación Sergio Paiz Andrade
(FUNSEPA)
l GE Healthcare
l George W. Baxter Foundation l Heineman Foundation for Research,
Educational, Charitable and Scientific Purposes, Inc.
l Hendrick Motorsport l Harris Teeter
l The Kittie & Albert Myers Fund l Latin American Chamber of
Commerce Charlotte
l The Leon Levine Foundation l
The FUNSEPA staff in Guatemala plays an integral role in the success of the Technology to Educate project. Medtronic
l Microsoft, Inc. l OrthoCarolina l Ruth Paz Foundation l Salud y Paz
l Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute l Smith Medical
l St. Jude
l Transtate Equipment Company l The W. Duke Kimbrell Family
Foundation
l Paul & Elizabeth Younts Trust l
16
I M P R O V I N G P U B L I C E D U C A T I O N ,
O N E S C H O O L A T A T I M E
The IMO program’s largest non-medical project, Technology to Educate, involves computers. Since 2010, IMO has worked with Fundación Sergio Paiz Andrade (FUNSEPA) and Microsoft Corporation, to collect, donate and install computers in
Guatemalan public schools. This includes 19,000 public schools, 95 percent of which lack access to technology.
The computer laboratories installed in public schools help both children and adults in rural communities to thrive in today’s digital society and workplace. While children use the computers at school during the day, parents and other adults occupy the laboratories after school hours.
To receive computer donations, schools must apply and meet certain criteria, such as having adequate space, electricity and doors with locks. The teachers also must be willing to participate in computer training.
In 2012, IMO has donated more than
computers, with a goal of donating at least
more.
6,000
15,000
Computers donated by IMO arrive to a Guatemalan warehouse, where FUNSEPA techs put final touches on the equipment before distributing to public schools.
TECHNOLOGY TO EDUCATE
FUNSEPA staff provide computer training for teachers in rural areas. Attendance at these trainings usually exceeds 100 percent. One teacher developed math software from his trainings and won first place at the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Forum.
A computer laboratory opening took place in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, in August.
Salvador Paiz, President of FUNSEPA, and Jessica Hammer, Director of FUNSEPA.
leading and most innovative healthcare organizations, provides a full spectrum of healthcare and wellness programs throughout North and South Carolina. Its diverse network of care locations includes academic medical centers, hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, physician practices, surgical and rehabilitation centers, home health agencies, nursing homes and behavioral health centers, as well as hospice and palliative care services. Carolinas HealthCare System works to improve and enhance the overall health and well-being of its communities through high quality patient care, education and research programs, and numerous collaborative partnerships and initiatives.
Since its establishment in 1943, the Heineman Foundation of Charlotte has pursued a variety of local and international research and humanitarian projects focused on providing medical assistance and education. Located on the campus of Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC, Heineman works closely with Carolinas HealthCare System to provide medical training focused on cardiac care to health providers overseas, as well as medical equipment and supplies to countries in need.
International Medical Outreach Program heineman.org or carolinashealthcare.org/IMO
