The American nonprofit Patrons of the World’s Children Hospital leads a global network for children’s health that brings together hospital facilities around the world. Promoters and partners of the initiative were received in audience by the Holy Father. The Patrons have donated a telemedicine device to Pope Leo.
The focus of the organization is to provide care for children in the most disadvantaged areas and give also specialized support to on-site healthcare personnel. The healthcare delivery system is based on the Hub and Spoke model. The Hubs, hospitals of excellence that have joined the initiative from every part of the world, provide scientific support to the Spokes, clinics and health centers scattered in areas around the world where the demand for healthcare is unmet.
The Hubs provide know-how to care for children and offer technical support to the doctors and nurses located in the Spokes; they are those who identify the most urgent pediatric cases and prepare an initial collection of the relevant medical and administrative documentation, to be submitted to the Hubs, who will provide the most appropriate healthcare recommendations.
The Hub-Spoke model ensures that children referred by missions and NGOs receive comprehensive, specialized care, focused on three main activities: providing young patients with specialized treatment and life-saving surgical interventions at hospital centers of excellence; supporting local facilities through the donation of telemedicine devices, strengthening their capacity to provide assistance; empowering specialized training to doctors and healthcare professionals to ensure high standards of care.
“The network created by the Patrons – emphasizes Fabrizio Arengi Bentivoglio, their president – reflects the mission entrusted to us by Pope Francis, which we continue to pursue with all our energy today thanks to Pope Leo’s blessing. This audience is a key milestone in our journey and confirms our commitment to building on the results already achieved. Hundreds of thousands of invisible children around the world need our support: we will help these children together with our partners and supporters, because the principle behind our project is that by joining our forces we can bring support even to the most remote areas of the Earth”.
Patrons of the World’s Children Hospital is the US-based not for profit corporation that powers the global network on children’s health by raising awareness, connectivity and funds. It also oversees the Hub and Spoke agreements, the projects implementation with several strategic collaborations, and the relationships with partners already part of the initiative.
In 2025, the Patrons managed the case of six-month-old conjoined twin girls from Burkina Faso, connected at the abdomen and partially at the pericardium. The referral was received through the Spoke Una voce per Padre Pio. The surgical procedure, performed by an exceptional medical team at Gaslini Pediatric Hospital in Genoa, Italy, was fully successful. The girls are now healthy and already returned home.
As regards to telemedicine, thanks to the device provided by the Patrons’ strategic partner Teladoc Health, a cutting-edge teleconsultation system was activated at the Niño Jesús Hospital in Tucumán, Argentina. This system directly connects local medical staff with the specialized expertise of Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona, Spain, to treat 150 serious pediatric cancer patients per year.
2026 is expected to be a fundamental year, with an estimated 50 surgical operations. This number, as a starting point, is set to increase significantly in the following two years, up to 240 life-saving operations. More, the Patrons will be able to guarantee a total of 21.600 healthcare services in three years, focused on telemedicine and teleconsultation, in an area of intervention that extends across 15 different countries.
By deploying cutting-edge telemedicine infrastructure, the Patrons are synchronizing a massive network of medical professionals across the globe. This decentralized model allows doctors to provide high-quality pediatric care and specialized consultations in any language by establishing a 24/7 global call center.
The Patrons’ initial years have yielded tangible results in lives saved and teleconsultation, alongside new and consolidated important partnerships: in addition to those already mentioned, there are strategic relationships with Georgetown University of Washington, DC and Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital of Rome. Recently, new partnerships have been established with Clínica San Juan De Dios in Chiclayo (Peru), Habibi Association – an NGO operating in the Middle East and partner of the Patrons on humanitarian projects in Jordan – and Saint John of God Hospital in Mabesseneh (Sierra Leone).
