Jennifer Lopez visits Panama hospital ahead of tour

Jennifer Lopez gestures as she speaks at a ceremony to donate medical equipment to The Children's Hospital, via the Lopez Family Foundation, in Panama City on Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Lopez will perform on June 14 as part of her Dance Again world tour that kicks off in Panama City. AP PHOTO/ARNULFO FRANCO

PANAMA CITY—US diva Jennifer Lopez visited a children’s hospital in Panama to which she has donated telemedicine equipment at the start of a series of South American concerts.

“As a mother, children are the most important thing for me,” she said Tuesday at a hospital for poor children in the capital, where she was accompanied by her sister Lynda and Panamanian officials.

Lopez, 42, will kick off a new tour here on Thursday, with upcoming concerts in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Canada and the United States.

Last month Lopez was named the world’s most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine, which based its rankings on earnings, press coverage and Internet presence.

After taking time off to become a mother in 2008, Lopez returned to the public eye last year with a star turn as one of three talent judges on “American Idol.”

Lopez has four-year-old twins, Max and Emme, from her marriage with salsa musician Marc Antony, who filed for divorce earlier this year.