Hermosillo, Mexico Project

Rotary and Gift of Life-Arizona Project
Hermosillo DIF Children’s Hospital

Over a period of several years, Gift of Life – Arizona has been fostering a program whereby the essential heart operations on children could also be performed in Mexico where there are an abundance of highly qualified surgeons but where most public hospitals are not properly equipped nor their nurses adequately trained to support such operations and associated post-operative care.

Accordingly, we are presently underway in conjunction with the Phoenix Arcadia Rotary Club as the primary sponsor for a Rotary International Matching Grant to upgrade the Intensive Care Unit and Operating Rooms at the Hermosillo DIF Children’s Hospital. Funding was provided by the three Arizona Rotary Districts 5490, 5500 and 5510 using District Designated Funds (DDF), and by Mexican Rotary District 4100 using DDF along with many Arizona and Mexico Rotary Clubs providing additional funding.

We have contracted with Engineering World Health at Duke University to acquire the essential equipment and supplies after an on-site study of the hospital’s needs. Where possible EWH is providing donated items but also purchasing new equipment as required. They provide both very experienced engineers as well as engineering students from their unique Summer Institute (where volunteer students are themselves trained to service the equipment and in the foreign language). They will travel to Hermosillo to support the installation and help train the hospital’s personnel in the operation, maintenance and repair of all equipment which is to be used for the future children’s heart surgeries and post-operative care.

The Rotary Clubs PITIC and MILENIO of Hermosillo, Mexico are our partners in the project and will be hosting both Engineering World Health and Gift of Life-Arizona representatives who will travel to Mexico in support of the program. They also are arranging for the essential support of the Ministry of Health, customs clearance, internal transport and secure handling of the shipments.

With our cost somewhat in excess of US $100,000, we are providing over US $l, 000,000 in equipment and services. We hope that the DIF Hospital, under the guidance of our Rotarians and Gift of Life personnel, will eventually be able to provide additional operations and services to those currently being performed in Arizona on hundreds of needy Gift of Life qualified children from Mexico and around the world!