LITTLE HEARTS MEDICAL INTERVENTION PROGRAMS
Improving the lives of children living with Congenital Heart Disease.

11/27/19 – TWO HEARTS NOW BEATING AS ONE

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Little Hearts Medical  “LHM” and Open Hearts for Orphans “OHFO” are pleased to announce that they will join forces with OHFO absorbing LHM as a program within OHFO’s medical intervention initiatives. LHM property will be absorbed as a pediatric cardiac care program focused on serving orphaned and abandoned children in need, which has been LHM’s core mission in China.

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“With the swift growth and advance of the medical and social services organizations in the last few years, Little Hearts leadership realized we needed a broader leadership strategy to continue our work,” said Mike Lee, President of Little Hearts Medical. “Open Hearts’ similar mission and passion for orphaned and abandoned children makes this a perfect match.”

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“We’ve always admired the work of LHM, and to carry this torch for them feels like a dream,” said Lisa Murphy. “It’s very personal for us…we lost an adopted son with heart disease and now for the chance to make a life-saving impact for orphaned children in a direct way is something that we’re truly grateful for. We’ve always said that our son’s story may have been different had Daniel been given the surgery he needed as a baby in China. We can’t rewrite his story, but to know that this new focus at OHFO will change the lives of others is an incredible blessing.”

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LHM is an all volunteer organization and was co-founded in 2012 by Mike and Tanya Lee, parents of six children including four children adopted from China, along with Steve Langley, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, Laurie Armsby, pediatric cardiologist, Andrea and Eric Olson, parents of six children including five children adopted from China, and Ann Bartlinski, parent of 7 children from China.

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Since 2012, LHM has sent medical teams to China and partnered with United Family Health and BaYi Children’s Hospital to provide free heart care and interventional procedures for orphaned children in China who suffer from heart disease. LHM also partners with Dew Drops Medical Foster Home and other medical foster homes to provide training for staff who care for children before and after receiving cardiac interventional procedures at nearby medical centers. During this time, LHM services have totaled more than 30,000 volunteer hours and reached more than 500 children who received everything from basic services, such as file reviews for adoptive families, to life-saving complex medical and surgical procedures.

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Open Hearts for Orphans was founded in 2016 by Lisa and Jim Murphy in memory of the Murphy’s son Daniel, who was adopted from China in early 2010 and passed away later that year following the heart surgery he desperately needed. The Murphys have four children in their home, all adopted from China. The mission of OHFO is to care for orphaned and abandoned children through medical intervention, meeting basic needs, and providing financial assistance to adoptive families. To date, they’ve helped fund multiple heart surgeries, provided over 60 sophisticated pulse-oximetry units to medical foster homes and orphanages in various countries, managed a sponsorship program of 13 orphaned children, tackled many special projects, and have issued 25 of their “Say Yes” grants to adoptive families.

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“We are thrilled to partner with Lisa and the Open Hearts team as we work with our friends and medical colleagues who work so hard to save the children they love,” said Lee.

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Open Hearts for Orphans will use existing LHM funds to continue funding cardiac initiatives for orphaned and abandoned children through the newly named  “Little Hearts Medical Missions” program, including medical mission trips and foster home programs. Ann Bartlinski, Special Projects Coordinator for LHM, will head up this new initiative as the Director of Medical Intervention Programs at OHFO, and the Lees will remain involved in an Advisory capacity.