Headed by Prof. Andrey Keren, the center will operate within the heart institute at the Hadassah University Hospital in Ein-Kerem, Jerusalem. It will concentrate on strengthening follow up and treatment in the community. The goal of the center is to reduce, significantly, the need to hospitalize people with heart failure, to improve their quality of life and to extend their life expectancy.
The number of people with heart failure increases due to the aging of the population and the ability of interventional procedures to save lives of people with heart attack. "Paradoxically, our success in treating patients with heart attacks increases the number of people who will have heart failure in the future", says Prof. Chaim Lotan, head of the heart institute at Hadassah.
The American and European Cardiology Associations have already defined heart failure as "the new epidemic". 2% of the general population and 10% of the elderly have it. 50% of them are hospitalized, and 30% do it at least twice a year. Patient are dependent on a continuous clinical follow up, which means at least 20 visits to the clinic every year, home care and hospital day care appointments. Mortality rates go up to 50% within 5 years.
There are 100,000 people in Israel with heart failure. The new center at Hadassah will coordinate and combine the activities of all administrative and professional relevant authorities – from the community level to the comprehensive hospital services.