St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center’s Division of Cardiology Receives Three Million Dollars As An Initial Donation on a Multi-Million Dollar Commitment From the Amir of the State of Kuwait to Establish the Al-Sabah Arrhythmia Institute
NEW YORK, October 2007 – St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City has received a three million dollar donation, the first installment of a multi-million dollar commitment from the Amir of the State of Kuwait to create one of the few institutes of its kind in the United States designed to treat patients with all forms of cardiac-arrhythmia. The Institute, which is to be formally called the Al-Sabah Arrhythmia Institute, named after His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the Amir of the State of Kuwait, will be a state-of-the-art facility, equipped with cutting edge technology and staffed by renowned clinicians and researchers.
This groundbreaking institute will be geared toward advancing arrhythmia research and raising awareness of the latest, lifesaving treatments in one state-of-the-art center. It will be located at St. Luke’s Hospital in Morningside Heights. In addition to providing outstanding care, the Institute will offer physician and patient education, training, clinical and laboratory research, and the development of collaborative arrangements designed to diagnose and treat cardiac arrhythmias of all kinds.
“Without a doubt, this new institute will offer people from all over the world the latest and most sophisticated treatment for all types of serious and troublesome heart rhythm disturbances,” explains Dr. Jonathan Steinberg, Chief of the Division of Cardiology and the Al-Sabah Endowed Director of the Arrhythmia Institute at St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center and Professor of Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. “We are very fortunate to have been the recipients of this generous gift from His Highness, the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.”
The most severe cardiac arrhythmias are life-threatening conditions accounting for between 300,000 to 400,000 deaths in the United States each year and responsible for more than one million hospitalizations. This number is destined to rise as the population continues to age. A healthy heart is based on a regular rhythm and a dependable heartbeat, governed by a system of electrical impulses. A disruption in this system is called arrhythmia and it may be life-threatening or trigger debilitating symptoms. St. Luke’s – Roosevelt already is among the world’s leaders in treating electrical disorders of the heart, performing more than 2,500 procedures annually. It is the largest program of its kind in the New York City metropolitan area.
“This heartfelt endowment from His Highness will go such a long way in helping those who have this deadly heart condition,” said Dr. Sami Hashim, a long-time friend of the State of Kuwait, an Attending Physican at St. Luke’s – Roosevelt and Professor at Columbia. “The Kuwaitis are very generous people and this donation is a perfect example of that.”
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