Cancun, Quintana Roo — A three-year partnership between Hospiten hospital network and the nonprofit Ayuda a Corazón de Niño A.C. has provided life-saving heart surgeries to more than 300 children and adolescents across Mexico, with over 70 high-complexity procedures performed in the past year alone.
“We achieved 70 procedures in one year through this alliance. It is an accelerator and a multiplier of opportunities,” said Audelia Villarreal, director and founder of Ayuda a Corazón de Niño A.C., highlighting the urgency of these interventions in a country where thousands of pediatric patients remain on medical waiting lists.
The most recent medical mission took place at Hospiten Cancun, where a multidisciplinary team of volunteer specialists performed 33 successful procedures over 10 days. This milestone pushed the national program past the historic mark of 300 children treated comprehensively.
The program’s infrastructure and support from strategic donors eliminated financial barriers for families in Quintana Roo, offering definitive treatment at no cost to beneficiaries.
Expansion to Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta
The model originated at Hospiten’s facility in Baja California Sur. In August 2025, the 13th Unidos de Corazón medical mission treated the 250th patient in the region. Since 2023, the center has performed 71 procedures, covering 55% of the estimated annual demand in the state. Services included 406 specialized pediatric cardiology consultations, 450 high-resolution echocardiograms, 27 therapeutic catheterizations, and 15 open-heart surgeries.
In Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, a second mission successfully treated nine patients with closures of patent ductus arteriosus and atrial septal defects, bringing the total number of children treated in that region to 24.
Volunteer-driven model
The program relies on volunteer medical professionals — pediatric cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, intensivists, and nurses from across the country — who donate their time to operate at key Hospiten locations.
“We work today to form future healthy, independent adults capable of achieving their dreams,” the foundation stated.
With congenital heart defects remaining a leading cause of infant mortality in Mexico, the public-private partnership demonstrates the viability of collaborative healthcare models to address the treatment gap.
