Patrons of the Hearts

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas!
I am excited to announce Dr. Dennis Wells, MD as the recipient of the Patrons of the Hearts Professorship in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery. Dr. Wells graduated from medical school at the University of Arkansas followed by fellowship training in cardiac surgery at the University of Cincinnati with additional training in congenital heart surgery at Cincinnati Children's Hospita. Prior to joining Nemours Children’s Care as Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Wolfson Children’s Hospital he was the Director of cardiac transplantation and mechanical support at Oschner Children’s Hospital in New Orleans leading to a three star recognition by the Society of Thoracic Surgery. He started working at Wolfson on October 1 and plans to stay with his family in Jacksonville for a long time. His primary goal is to provide top quality care to our community including our underserved international patients. I look forward to working closely with Dr. Wells for many years.

12/23/2025

I am excited to announce Dr. Dennis Wells, MD as the recipient of the Patrons of the Hearts Professorship in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery. Dr. Wells graduated from medical school at the University of Arkansas followed by fellowship training in cardiac surgery at the University of Cincinnati with additional training in congenital heart surgery at Cincinnati Children's Hospita. Prior to joining Nemours Children’s Care as Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Wolfson Children’s Hospital he was the Director of cardiac transplantation and mechanical support at Oschner Children’s Hospital in New Orleans leading to a three star recognition by the Society of Thoracic Surgery. He started working at Wolfson on October 1 and plans to stay with his family in Jacksonville for a long time. His primary goal is to provide top quality care to our community including our underserved international patients. I look forward to working closely with Dr. Wells for many years.

09/09/2024

Hadidjatou and her Mom are traveling from Burkina Faso/Togo for care at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and should arrive this week. I have full confidence in the Cardiology team and know she is in good hands. Please help us continue our international program by becoming a member of the Rhythm Fund. Your monthly gift helps with ancillary expenses such as room and board, medications, etc. Sign up through Patronsofthehearts.com and thank you for your ongoing support

06/18/2024

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an upate, so here goes. For 2024 we have had 3 patients come through our program to Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville. First was a child from Togo who underwent successful open heart surgery. Next was a teenager from Kenya who carried the diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta. After a very thorough evaluation it was determined he did not require invasive treatment. And just last week a baby from Grenada had an excellent open heart repair by Michael Shillingford MD.
There will be several more children scheduled over the Summer and into the Fall. We are slowly making progress in our capital campaign to enhance the endowment and thus allow us to afford our goal of providing care for 8-10 children each year from underdeveloped countries. Please help us achieve our goal by becoming a member of the Rhythm Fund at

As a not-for-profit organization, Wolfson Childrens Hospital relies on donations to provide lifesaving care for patients in Northeast Florida.

02/14/2024

Essonyiwa was seen today and cleared to travel back to Togo! So happy for this child and this family!! Thank you to the wonderful team at the Terry Heart Center at Wolfson Children’s Hospital for their expertise and thank you to all of the supporters of Patrons of the Hearts. This is how your donations are utilized 🥰 Please consider a gift on this very special occasion

01/27/2024

Our little one from Togo had a successful open heart repair a couple of days ago. Many thx to the wonderful team at the Terry Heart Institute at Wolfson Children’s Hospital 💕

01/01/2024

Happy New Year to all of our friends and supporters. May 2024 be filled with love, happiness and good health

12/25/2023

Happy Holidays to all of our friends and supporters. May 2024 be filled with joy and wellbeing for everyone

12/08/2023

I tried this a little earlier today. Must have missed the “post” button because I can’t find it…. Here goes
We have a teenage competitive athlete from Grenada at Wolfson Children’s Hospital right now. She presented to our telemedicine clinic a few weeks ago for evaluation of chest pain with exercise. I was very suspicious of a coronary artery anomaly that is associated with sudden death with vigorous activity. Thankfully the CTA scan proved me wrong as her coronary arteries are normal. I am so happy this child can safely resume participation in sports and I am so proud of the skill and ability of the Cardiology team at Wolfson in sorting out this problem and avoid an operation.

12/08/2023

This week we had a competitive athlete from Grenada travel to Jacksonville for further evaluation at Wolfson Children’s Hospital. I saw her through our telemedicine clinic for complaints of chest pain with exercise. The echocardiogram was suspicious for a coronary artery abnormality associated with sudden death in athletes. Thankfully the CT scan demonstrated normal coronary arteries and surgery was not required. I’m so happy for this happy ending and incredibly proud of the Cardiology team at Wolfson

11/27/2023

As we approach Giving Tuesday I would like to give all of our friends and supporters a quick summary of the clinical activities of Patrons of the Hearts. Our first child, Aya, came to us from Morocco in the Spring of 2006 Since then we have provided care for 156 children from 28 different countries with outstanding outcomes. We are expecting our next child, an adolescent from Grenada, to arrive in the next 2 weeks. I previously mentioned to you that inflation has hit us hard, with our costs tripling over the past 2 years. Please consider a donation to our capital funds drive so we can continue to provide life saving care to children from developing countries. Donations can be set up through our website
WWW.patronsofthehearts.com
Thank you for your consideration and ongoing support. Best wishes from all of us at Patrons of the Hearts for a happy and healthy holiday season

As a not-for-profit organization, Wolfson Childrens Hospital relies on donations to provide lifesaving care for patients in Northeast Florida.

11/16/2023

Good evening friends and family of Patrons of the Hearts. Inflation has caught up with us. Since COVID, our costs per child have tripled! We are officially embarking on a capital campaign to raise $1,000,000 over the next 2 years. Please consider a donation to help us achieve that goal. Visit our website www.patronsofthehearts.com to donate. I encourage you to make a recurring monthly donation to our Rhythm Fund. No amount is too small and every little bit helps! We are expecting our next child to arrive in about 4 weeks. More to come! Please stay safe

As a not-for-profit organization, Wolfson Childrens Hospital relies on donations to provide lifesaving care for patients in Northeast Florida.