In addition to her significant contributions to paediatric cardiac care in New Zealand, Dr Finucane played a key role in establishing the Heart 4 Kids Trust, a volunteer organisation that provides lifesaving heart surgeries to children across the Pacific. Since 2014, she has led annual missions to Fiji, where her teams have performed critical cardiac operations. 

"In my career of working as a heart surgeon in Auckland and Fiji, we have achieved many successful heart surgeries and have had a profound impact on the lives of those children and their families. However, we also know there are many children that have not accessed heart surgery, and have died or suffered damage, as a result, and the options to either get them to Auckland for operations or to get them to hospitals in the Pacific for treatment, remain limited by funds and many other obstacles." 

In July of this year, Dr Finucane spearheaded the Heart 4 Kids team through the Uto Bulabula – Healthy Hearts initiative, where 15 children from Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tuvalu, and Kiribati underwent successful cardiac surgeries. She reflects on the significance of the initiative: 

"Uto bulabula in July 2024 was a wonderful start to our partnership with the Pasifika Medical Association. For many years we have wanted to bring children over to Fiji from other Pacific Islands and have them access surgery there, and now it has finally happened!" 

" I loved seeing the teenage girl from Vanuatu cuddling a baby from Kiribati in the ward the day before surgery, and how the parents of these Pasifika children were supporting each other during such a stressful time. Witnessing this Pasifika community resilience and then the celebration makes all the personal stress and effort worthwhile, and many of those who are not of Pacific origin realise what we are missing out on." 

Given her long-standing involvement in the region, Dr Finucane shares her hopes for the upcoming GHS.  

"We need to take a new approach to the delivery of healthcare to the Pacific, respecting the leadership of the Pasifika people, who are in the best position to understand what is useful and important, and have the motivation to achieve it." 

"This conference will help all those of us who want to be involved to learn what has already been achieved, what are the challenges, and to collaborate to find sustainable solutions for the future. I look forward to explaining our situation, hearing how others overcame their own challenges, and gaining feedback and a new perspective from the Pasifika people."