The CCM and its medico-surgical team, fully conscious of their social responsibilities also devote their skills to humanitarian activities, carried out within the framework of Franco/Monegasque collaboration.
Since opening in 1987, the CCM has been regularly approached by Monegasque and French charites, referring patients from poor countries and those in crisis, for medical treatment of often complex congenital heart disease.
The Centre provides medical skills and technical infrastructures, which are rare or non-existent in many countries.
Since 2008, 672 procedures have been carried out, some thirty a year. In 2023, 7 children, 1 teenager and 3 adults were hospitalised.
When young children are involved, organizations such as Rencontres Africaines or the Monaco Red Cross select volunteer host families, organize transport and establish a link with these host families who :
- welcome them before admission for a first familiarisation,
- visit them daily during their hospitalisation,
- house them, often for a month after their discharge from the Centre,
- escort them to the airport for their return homeward,
Host families often maintain very strong emotional ties with these young patients.
In the case of adult patients, they are taken care of as soon as they arrive at Nice-Côte d’Azur airport by the Centre’s Reception service, supported during their stay and then escorted back to the airport after treatment.
The Centre or partner associations assist patients or their families in obtaining visas for treatment.
Hospitalisations at the Monaco Cardiothoracic Centre are usually invoiced according to a flat-rate fee inclusive of treatment, stay, laboratory examinations and medical fees.
In 2023, humanitarian hospitalisations amounted to 283 757 Euros, paid for by charities and donors, covering direct consumption costs of 121 533 Euros, as well as by the Monaco Cardiothoracic Centre and its medico-surgical team for a fee of 162 224 Euros.
For further information consult the annual report: Report on humanitarian diagnoses and interventions carried out at the Monaco Cardiothoracic Centre in 2023
Additionally, several members of the Centre’s medico-surgical team train cardiovascular doctors and surgeons abroad, mainly in Africa. Training courses at the CCM are also regularly organised for these specialists.