Nicaragua Global Outreach Program

Specialized spine surgery for children who face some of the steepest barriers to care in the Americas.

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Next mission: Managua, October 18-25, 2026. See the mission details.

How we create change

What SpineHope does here

In Nicaragua, families travel across the country for pediatric spine care that is nearly impossible to access at home. Children with severe deformities wait on long lists while pain, stigma, and lost school years stack up. Without visiting specialist teams and local partners working as one program, many of these surgeries simply do not happen.

Nicaragua extends SpineHope’s reach to children who need complex spine surgery now. Led by Dr. Kenneth Illingworth (Cedars-Sinai), our missions partner with host spine surgeon Dr. Zeyra del Carmen Lopez Aguilar and the team at Dr. Fernando Vélez Paiz Hospital in Managua (including Medical Director Dr. Maria Virginia Garcia Almendarez, Dr. Evel Lopez, Dr. Eder Martinez, and Dr. Johana Lissette Galan Lopez), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. Each visit delivers charity surgery and post-op care, and builds local skill so Nicaraguan clinicians can carry more of this work forward year after year.

Direct Care

Surgeons, anesthesia, instruments, implants, hospital time, and recovery for children who otherwise would never reach specialized care.

Follow-Up

Exams, reconnection with prior patients, and the aftercare that protects every outcome.

Local Capacity

Side-by-side teaching with Managua partners, and investments like equipment training, so the program deepens between missions.

Inside the mission

Families and clinical staff fill a busy hospital hallway on a mission clinic day — Families and clinical staff on a clinic day in Managua.

Surgeons, staff, and local partners celebrating the moment with local children and young people — Surgeons, staff and local partners celebrating with the children.

SpineHope surgeon supporting a recent patient with parent in background — A SpineHope surgeon with a recent patient and their parent.

Team members with local beneficiaries growing in hope

Recent impact

April 2026 · Managua

Eleven spine surgeries and 36 patient examinations at Dr. Fernando Vélez Paiz Hospital, with SpineHope and local partners working as one team.

A parent who once feared their child would never stand tall watches them walk the hospital hallway again, proof that distance and income do not have to decide a child’s future.

Monthly giving community

Fund a Global Outreach Mission

Your gift covers the full cost of a child's surgical care, from the operating room to recovery. Every dollar fuels direct medical intervention in communities with no other option.

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