Somoto has a district hospital which serves the entire District of Madriz. The bed capacity is approximately 100. There are 3 operating rooms. The medical staff includes four general surgeons, two orthopedic surgeons, and four gynecologists. There are no medical specialists. By US standards the hospital is very deficient in equipment and basic supplies. The government provides insufficient materials and medications to serve the community. Hearts Afire Foundation has provided to the hospital millions of doses of basic medications such as antibiotics, analgesics, anti-hypertensives, and spinal anesthetic over the past 10 years to supplement what the government cannot provide. The foundation has also given to the hospital much needed equipment such as EKG machines, incubators, anesthetic machines, x-ray film developers, suture material, patient beds, orthopedic equipment for trauma surgery, and much more.

The Hearts Afire Foundation has remodeled the hospital’s kitchen, has built a recovery room, and constructed a new dispensary for its pharmacy and is currently adding on a dormitory space for on-call physicians.

The President of Hearts Afire Foundation, Dr. Dennis Cesar, is a board-certified Urologist. Dr. Cesar has performed many surgical procedures in Somoto, has provided consultation services to the patients at the hospital and has trained the general surgeons in Somoto to do basic urologic surgeries. He has also encouraged other physicians from Merced to travel to Somoto and volunteer their surgical skills and expertise. Family practice physicians, nephrologists, orthopedic surgeons, and ENT surgeons, and two other urologists have traveled to Somoto and greatly contributed. They continue to do so.

In Somoto and the surrounding communities clinics called Casa Maternas have been built. In these cases, women in their last week of pregnancy live under the supervision of a doctor and nurse. The women give birth at these clinics and stay for an additional week with the newborn child. This program has significantly decreased infant and maternal mortality. Hearts Afire Foundation provides the food for these patients at its seven different Casa Maternas to ensure adequate nutritional needs.

Finally, Hearts Afire Foundation has established a dental clinic in Somoto to serve those who cannot afford preventive dental care. The clinic is staffed by a dentist whose salary is provided by Hearts Afire Foundation. Supplies, when needed, are also provided on an ongoing basis. The clinic is housed in the local church.