The Queensland Heart Institute (“QHI”) is a not for profit organisation founded on three key principles:
(a) disease and therapy awareness in structural heart disease;
(b) research and future therapy in structural heart disease; and
(c) training for emerging leaders in the field of structural heart disease.
Since the inception of the St Andrews War Memorial Hospital (“SAWMH”) transcatheter aortic valve implantation (“TAVI”) program, it had become clear that there is a significant lack of awareness, both within the medical community (including GP’s and Specialists) and patients regarding the diagnosis, treatment and multiple safe, reliable therapy options available to treat many of the structural heart conditions such as aortic stenosis.
This continues to be true even after three years of this very successful program at SAWMH.
When the program started, there was limited funding from Medicare for this life-saving therapy, relegating patients at the mercy of hospital generosity or self-funding access to gain access to therapies.
Here at the Queensland Heart Institute, we firmly believe that through this model, more patients can be offered the next generation of treatment so often provided overseas but not yet in Australia.
