The Jamaican Children’s Heart Fund cardiac surgical mission team provides cost free open heart surgery to children in Jamaica, whose families cannot afford this very costly surgery. This organization is comprised of a pediatric cardiac surgical team, and an intensive care team from the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital(JDCH), Hollywood, Florida, headed by Dr. Richard Perryman, Chairman-JCHF/Director Cardiothoracic Surgery JDCH, along with Dr. Gerald Lavandosky, Vice Chairman-JCHF/Pediatric Intensivist JDCH. Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is a world class hospital noted for medical professionals who are uniquely qualified to handle the most complex and critical pediatric open heart cases.

The JCHF team is passionate and committed to serving the needs of indigent children in Jamaica. It is with this focus that JCHF has conducted pediatric cardiac surgical missions to Jamaica over the past twelve years. For nine of those 12 years, the JCHF Surgical Team functioned in this capacity, under the auspicies of Caribbean Heart Menders (CHMA). The Team subsequently identified their territory of critical medical need as Jamaica, hence, the birth of Jamaican Children’s Heart Fund, Inc, 501c3 non-profit, charitable organization in June 2004. Over the past 12 years, the recipients of this life saving surgery were as follows: 93 children under the heading of CHMA and 31 children to date under JCHF, totaling 124 recipients to date.

The Team established themselves under the name Jamaican Children's Heart Fund, Inc., to clearly define the commitment and purpose, to facilitate and address the increased needs for additional pediatric cardiac surgical support to Jamaica. The JCHF team mission’s, have been once per year, with the exception of 2006, during which, there were two surgical missions. JCHF's objective is to increase the annual missions to at least 3 or 4 per year, to alleviate this critical need. The team will now be independently available for sponsorship or co- sponsorship by any organization or individuals committed to giving children the gift of life.

The question becomes, why is Jamaica the target of this team's commitment and focus? The answer is reflected in the urgency displayed in the increasing, rather than decreasing list of infants and children with congenital heart problems in Jamaica. The waiting list for surgery and for those yet to be evaluated needs immediate attention and action. Without this much needed surgery, many will die and have been dying at a very early age. To date the rise in congenital heart disease throughout the Caribbean is especially visible among indigent children in Jamaica.

The JCHF Team members are strong advocates for children's healthcare, having been in a position to intimately see the challenges these children and families face. JCHF is deeply committed to changing this situation collectively, helping to build strong communities, by providing quality medical care, at no cost to the families, to save the lives of children, while accepting no personal compensation. To make this a reality, they have given up their personal vacation time and work long hours in often challenging conditions to save lives.

Additionally, the JCHF team generates funds through Grants, fundraising activities and donation solicitation, to defray the cost of the cardiac surgery and medical supplies. The JCHF team works side by side with the Jamaican medical team, sharing expertise, during both the pediatric heart surgery and cardiac intensive care process.