October 20, 2022
Medical Volunteer for 28 Years: Dr. Peter Hesslein Receives 2022 Children’s HeartLink Founders Award
Pediatric cardiologist Dr. Peter Hesslein, who has been involved with Children’s HeartLink as a medical volunteer and supporter for over 28 years, receives the 2022 Children’s HeartLink Founders Award at the Global Gathering event. This annual award was established in honor of Children’s HeartLink founder Dr. Joe Kiser, to recognize individuals who demonstrate extraordinary contributions to cardiac services in underserved parts of the world.
Dr. Hesslein’s involvement in Children’s HeartLink began in 1994. His participation in a medical conference in Costa Rica co-sponsored by Children’s HeartLink led to his joining our mission trips to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Ukraine, China, Kenya and India.
Dr. Hesslein and Children’s HeartLink helped a cardiac center in southern India, Amrita Hospital Kochi, to achieve world-class standards of heart care. “Peter was instrumental in creating our partnership with Children’s HeartLink that was critical in the evolution of our program over the next 20 years into a center of excellence,” says Dr. Krishna Kumar, head of pediatric cardiology at AIMS.
As the Children’s HeartLink approach evolved from leading mission trips to expanding capacity and quality of pediatric cardiac care—through medical training, global partnerships and collaboration with local health ministries—Dr. Hesslein helped integrate services for children with congenital heart disease (CHD) in the Indian state of Kerala. The Hridyam “Heart” program takes a population health approach, aiming to improve the recognition and referral of CHD while reducing treatment inequities. The Hridyam program has contributed to significant reductions in infant mortality in Kerala, from 12 to 7 babies per 1,000 births. This is now the lowest of all 28 Indian states (current average 27.7).
“Peter’s most impactful contribution has been in the establishment of a remarkably innovative framework for the Hridyam program,” Dr. Kumar continues. “It’s perhaps the only one of its kind in the world that seeks to provide access to every single child with congenital heart disease in a region. In the five years since its introduction, over 14,000 children with CHD have been registered and nearly 5,000 have been operated upon with remarkably good results.”
In 2021, Dr. Hesslein co-authored the publication describing the Kerala innovative program for CHD and its impact.
Dr. Hesslein notes that his involvement with this program has been one of the most rewarding experiences of his professional career.
“The Kerala project is something for which I am most proud. It is a visionary program that has potential application beyond pediatric Cardiology, into other age groups and disease entities. When a population health approach is taken, you can get better results thanks to early identification and real-time tracking of cases on a database, so that nobody is missed or falls between the cracks.”
Pictured: Peter Hesslein traveled to Bangalore, India with Children’s HeartLink in 1999
