Ted was taken aback by the lack of surgical access for patients in the country. Many patients traveled for days for a surgical consultation. He encountered firsthand what it means for three-quarters of the world's population to live without adequate access to surgical care access.

Through his church in Kansas City, Missouri, Ted began annual trips to the Dominican Republic where volunteer medical teams provided healthcare to sugar cane cutters and their families in the bateys. Ted began operating in a borrowed clinic in 1992, when the Good Samaritan Hospital in La Romana was a dream under construction. Ted trained many of the Dominican surgeons to perform both laparoscopic abdominal procedures as well as vascular access procedures for patients with end stage renal disease requiring dialysis access.

In 2015, the construction began on Higgins Brothers Surgicenter for Hope. The dedication and official opening of the Surgicenter was in December, 2016. The Higgins Brothers name honors Ted's father, Edward, and uncle, Paul. Both surgeon brothers were inspired by their father and grandfather to carry on a busy surgical practice in upstate NY. Dr. Edward trained in ENT at Syracuse Upstate Medical Center, and Dr. Paul trained in general surgery at Johns Hopkins Mdical Center. They both served 4 years in World War ll as physicians - Edward in Europe and Paul in the Pacific.  Both embraced the international work of medicine. They shared a 36-year practice, and were role models for medical students, physicians, and the wider community  for their exemplary patient care and civic involvement.