The HEARTS initiative in the Americas is a key strategy for strengthening primary health care and improving the management of high blood pressure, the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In the Dominican Republic, its implementation has evolved toward an institutionalized model focused on quality, governance, and access to medications.
The objective of this paper is to describe the implementation and main outcomes of HEARTS in the country as of 2025. A descriptive study was conducted based on secondary data from the national systems used to monitor the HEARTS initiative, including administrative records, national reports, the District Health Information System (DHIS2), SCORECARD, the maturity and performance index, and the HEARTS HEATMAP, covering the period 2019–2025.
The strategy achieved an implementation coverage of 87.7% among primary care centers (1214 of 1384), with more than 315 000 individuals being followed up. Blood pressure control among patients treated according to HEARTS protocols exceeded 80%, while clinical follow-up and timely initiation of treatment reached 100%. Overall, 77.8% of primary care centers were classified at the intermediate levels of maturity, and the system achieved a score of 2.5/4 on the HEARTS HEATMAP.
These results demonstrate progress in institutionalizing the strategy and strengthening primary care, although gaps in population coverage and community-based follow-up persist.