Newswise — Toronto, ON (November 28, 2016) – The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre’s Mechanical Heart Program received a huge gift as a result of a three-week national initiative led by Canadian Pacific (CP)’s community investment program, CP Has Heart, and involving the CFL and the 104th Grey Cup, directly supporting advanced heart failure patients with life-saving innovative device therapies.
With donations of $5,000 per touchdown scored during the CFL playoffs, $10,000 per TD during the Grey Cup game and $25,000 raised at the Grey Cup Festival from CP Has Heart, $200,000 was raised for Canada’s largest Mechanical Heart Program, which has implanted more than 200 mechanical heart devices.
“We are exceptionally grateful for the outpouring of support and generosity that CP, CP Has Heart, and the CFL have provided through this first-ever initiative for our Program and most importantly for the seriously ill cardiovascular patients we serve,” says Dr. Barry Rubin, Medical Director, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network. “Cardiac-assist devices are life-saving technologies for many end-stage heart failure patients, who often endure a progressive deterioration in their quality of life. Innovative devices like the mechanical heart provide these patients with hope, and dramatically improve how they feel.”
The largest of its kind in Canada, the Mechanical Heart Program at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre began in 2001 and is led by an internationally-recognized roster of medical experts in mechanical circulatory support technology. Known as ventricular assist devices (VADs), mechanical hearts on average cost about $100,000 each, of which 25 per cent has been funded through philanthropy.
“CP is proud of our partnership with the CFL and the life-saving work the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre is doing,” says Mark Wallace, CP Vice-President Corporate Affairs. “Through CP Has Heart and Touchdowns for Heart we are able to give hundreds of people a fighting chance against heart disease, which is fast becoming an epidemic in Canada. We look forward to the continued success of this program.”
Click here to see first-hand the impact of the life-saving Mechanical Heart Program.
“Our longest-surviving patient with a mechanical heart is well past six years, so the impact of these powerful battery-operated devices that take over the blood-pumping function in a diseased heart, are quite simply, life-saving,” says Dr. Vivek Rao, Division Head, Cardiovascular Surgery, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. “With some 2,000 Canadians diagnosed with advanced heart failure annually and only about 200 heart transplants performed nationally each year due to a shortage of suitable donor hearts, the need to provide and fund alternate treatment options like mechanical hearts is pressing, to potentially prevent the deaths of patients who die waiting for a transplant.”
ABOUT THE PETER MUNK CARDIAC CENTREThe Peter Munk Cardiac Centre is the premier cardiac centre in Canada. Since it opened in 1997, the Centre has saved and improved the lives of cardiac and vascular patients from around the world. Each year, approximately 55,000 patients receive innovative and compassionate care from multidisciplinary teams in the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, and the Centre trains more cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and vascular surgeons than any other hospital in Canada. The Centre is based at the Toronto General Hospital and the Toronto Western Hospital - members of University Health Network. www.petermunkcardiaccentre.ca
About Canadian PacificCanadian Pacific (TSX:CP)(NYSE:CP) is a transcontinental railway in Canada and the United States with direct links to eight major ports, including Vancouver and Montreal, providing North American customers a competitive rail service with access to key markets in every corner of the globe. CP is growing with its customers, offering a suite of freight transportation services, logistics solutions and supply chain expertise. Visit cpr.ca to see the rail advantages of CP.
About CP Has HeartAt CP, we know that a railroad may serve as the arteries of a nation, but at its heart is community. That's why, through CP Has Heart, we've already committed more than $8 million to help improve the heart health of men, women and children across North America. And along the way, we're showing heart whenever we can. Find out more on www.cpr.ca or @CPhasHeart.
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