The Heart Foundation of Jamaica has moved just a stone’s throw from its previous headquarters at 30 Beechwood Avenue to a larger and more spacious location at number 28.

The relocation will facilitate a more efficient operation to cope with the growing need for the foundation’s services.

The move was made possible in part by a grant of $10 million from the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund to assist with the completion of the building’s infrastructure.

Referring to the new structure, Peter Bangerter, founding director and treasurer of the Heart Foundation said: “For over 35 years, our primary function has been the promotion of heart health care.”

“The expansion,” he continued, “will now see the development of a comprehensive cardiovascular disease prevention and rehabilitation programme and the expansion of its present Emergency Cardiac Care Training Service.”

The training service includes basic life, advance cardiac life and paediatric life support courses and programmes which are certified in conjunction with the American Heart Association.

Winston Barrett, board director, pointed out that the former premises were extremely inadequate. According to him, the organisation had to accommodate some of its services under tents to meet the demand.

“We see at least 60,000 persons per year for screening, counselling and other services, ” he disclosed.

More persons using services

In sharing the statistics, the director said 10 years ago over 11,000 persons used the foundation’s services.

This number has leaped to over 58,000 within a short period, a growth of almost 400 per cent.

He was quick to add that the centre not only screens for persons who already have heart disease, but also places a great deal of emphasis on prevention and proper nutrition.

Billy Heaven, chief executive officer of the CHASE Fund, during a recent tour of the expanded facility, said that although CHASE was extremely pressed to meet the demand for assistance needed to improve health care across the island, he was more than pleased that the fund was able to assist the Heart Foundation.

He pointed out that since the inception of CHASE in 2002, more than $486,862,000 has been disbursed to the health sector by the fund.