OUR VISION
Changing the world for children with heart disease
Every child, everywhere
Global Cardiac Alliance is committed to bringing sustainable health care solutions to children with cardiac disease in low- and middle-Income countries (LMICs).
A long-lasting impact
We are dedicated to improving the skills, knowledge, technology, and experience of local health-care providers in regions of the world without access to world-class Pediatric Cardiac Care.
World-class care worldwide
We aim to provide comprehensive care to all children with congenital or acquired heart disease regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, political ideology, genetic factors, or economic means. Our vision is that in the future all children with heart disease, no matter where they are born, will be able to receive the medical and surgical care they require to live a long and healthy life.
OUR VALUES
At The Heart of All Our Work
We work with governments, health ministries, healthcare professionals and humanitarian organizations to provide total cardiac care to children in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC, as defined by the World Bank).
The children we serve have limited access to quality care and their families lack the financial resources to seek care elsewhere. This collaboration will enable local healthcare authorities to build pediatric cardiac care services in-country and in time eliminate the need to send these children abroad for surgery.
We facilitate practical and affordable solutions to a variety of clinical, technical and patient problems, which are unique to the sites we work in.
First-world approaches are often unaffordable or inappropriate to the needs of our partner sites. Surgical, Interventional Catheter and ICU techniques are tailored and modified to address the needs of the population we serve. Many of the children we see are much older than would typically be seen in developed countries and consequently the medical and surgical options for these children are very different. Many of these innovations emerge from professionals at our partner sites themselves, and we encourage presentation and publication of such in conferences and journals.
We educate local healthcare professionals and work with their educational institutions to improve the standard of training, leading to better care for children with heart disease.
Our open and flexible education model is delivered in many ways. We work with each site individually to find the best template for education and development of clinical judgment. We provide clinical bedside teaching, didactic lectures and ad hoc teaching sessions on site. We also encourage access to web resources and international academic journals. We are currently building a virtual learning environment using “Moodle” ™.
Our shared goal with our partners in LMICs is to develop full independence over time to operate on and care for the children with a homegrown team of experts.
We monitor the quality and effect of our assistance, and tailor our team’s size and skill set accordingly. We commit to maintaining ongoing professional relationships with those hospitals and personnel with a focus on academic work, conference attendance and occasional short visits. We have seen a significant number of volunteers and core staff enthusiastically emerge from previously assisted sites.
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS
Publications & Academic Activity
To support world-class care worldwide, Global Cardiac Alliance has published peer-reviewed research papers, participated in pediatric cardiology conferences worldwide, provided authored content to the media and more.
GLOBAL CARDIAC ALLIANCE HISTORY
Big Hearts & Little Hearts
Dr. Bill Novick began his career in 1993. Bill saw a disparity in heart health between kids in lower-income countries and kids in the USA. And he didn’t like what he saw. Too many children were dying – and Bill knew many more could be saved. But he also knew he needed a team to make it happen. So he recruited some of the best clinicians in pediatric care who shared his passion for eradicating congenital heart disease in low to middle-income countries.
In 2014 they undertook their first mission as Novick Cardiac Alliance – now Global Cardiac Alliance. More than 2,800 hearts later they’re still going, training teams in other countries to deliver world-class heart health care to every child.
Help us bring world-class cardiac care to some of the world’s most troubled places.
Join us as a medical volunteer or support through donation.