The Providence Heart + Lung Institute at St. Paul's Hospital builds on a rich history of innovation and stewardship in cardiac and pulmonary care and research at Providence Health Care.
St. Paul's Hospital has been providing cardiovascular care since 1950. Its cardiac program - as home of the Heart Centre - is the only British Columbian provider of the full spectrum of cardiovascular care combined with active research in virtually all program areas, including surgery and transplantation. The Hospital's respiratory care programs also span an impressive continuum - providing key clinical services for such lung conditions such as Asthma, Cystic Fibrosis, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and Pulmonary Fibrosis.
Heart and lung research has been occurring at the Hospital for over 30 years and have had a profound impact on the quality of individual lives and improvements in the healthcare system. Whether creating the only Canadian-made heart-lung bypass machine, responding to the unique respiratory complications of AIDS patients in the early days of the epidemic, or performing the world's first minimally invasive "beating heart" aortic valve replacement surgery, Providence's history is one of pioneering medical advances and developing new care solutions.
Today, heart and lung diseases are on the rise. Currently the number one cause of death in Canada, heart disease takes 74,000 lives each year in our country. About eight out of every 10 Canadians are at risk of developing some kind of cardiovascular disease in their lifetimes. Chronic or infectious lung and respiratory diseases impact one in every five Canadians.
We believe the biggest challenge that British Columbia currently faces in this arena of health is to take heart and lung research, prevention, detection and care to the next level; to take innovation in these areas to internationally distinguished levels, and to really merge our available resources and expertise into a critical mass that will improve our knowledge and care delivery exponentially.
This is what we aim to accomplish with the Heart + Lung Institute at St. Paul's Hospital.
The Institute will continue to work with our provincial health partners so we can all benefit from a better understanding of heart, blood vessel and lung interactions, and then quickly translate advances into new care solutions and innovative applications.
Dianne Doyle
President & CEO, Providence Health Care