The Hirsche Smiles Foundation was started in 1990 by Dr. Blayne L. Hirsche, plastic and reconstructive surgeon and Dr. Michael Chandler, anesthesiologist, both affiliated with Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, Provo, Utah.

In the fall of 2002, Dr. Hirsche and his wife, Sandy, were killed in a plane crash. The family and HSF board of directors under the direction of Alan R. Patterson, an anesthesiologist, decided to keep the foundation alive to carry on the vision and work started by the Hirsche’s and Dr. Chandler. Dr. Patterson and Sandi Mangum RN act as co-team leaders and Jean Patterson provides the much-needed and time intensive secretarial and administrative support. All team members are volunteers.

Dr. Charles Stewart was the first surgeon who stepped in to provide surgical expertise so needed to keep the foundation going. Sicne 2003, Steven H. Warnock, Faizi Siddiqi, Jed. R. Bindrup, and Jason Blocksom, all of Salt Lake City, Utah and Galen Perdikis of the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Fl joined the surgeons group and have participated and provided surgical care for the children.

 The Hirsche Smiles Foundation has since expanded to include many additional volunteers who have provided surgical and dental care to thousands of children in Guatemala and Mexico. Successful missions have proven that the work started by Dr. Hirsche can successfully be continued. We carry on the vision he started. Literally thousands of children have been helped.

Humanitarian team capability has been expanded of doing dental resporations , not just extractions. The numbers of missions have expanded from one trip to three or four interspersed during the year.