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Heart Institute Facts

Download this Heart Institute fact sheet here.

Overview

The University of Ottawa Heart Instititute is Canada’s largest and foremost cardiovascular health centre dedicated to understanding, treating and preventing heart disease. We deliver high-tech care with a personal touch, shape the way cardiovascular medicine is practiced, and revolutionize cardiac treatment and understanding. We build knowledge through research and translate discoveries into advanced care. We serve the local, national and international community, and are pioneering a new era in heart health.

Quick Facts

  • We have about 1,000 physicians, nurses, researchers, technicians, allied health professionals and others.
  • We see more than 80,000 patients a year. Many come from across Canada.
  • We are renowned for outstanding patient care with patient satisfaction among the highest in Ontario, averaging 98 per cent.
  • We operate Canada’s largest comprehensive prevention and rehabilitation program in cardiac medicine.
  • We have 13 research groups and 27 laboratories investigating all aspects of cardiovascular medicine.
  • We train 98 per cent of all first year cardiovascular residents in Canada.

Noteworthy

  • UOHI ranks in the top 2 per cent of worldwide research institutions based on the quality and impact of its scientific publications, according to SIR World Reports 2011, the most comprehensive ranking in this area.
  • The Institute is a Canadian leader in telemedicine/telehealth. One program has cut hospital readmission by 54 per cent for heart failure patients and been shown to save up to $20,000 for each patients safely diverted from an ER visit, re-admission, and hospital stay.
  • We developed and implemented an integrated city-wide protocol that has cut STEMI heart attack deaths by half.
  • We developed a model smoking cessation program that is in use in more than 100 hospitals across Canada and being adopted internationally.
Photo of a woman pipetting in a research lab

Delivering Care

  • We are the principal referring centre for 40 hospitals throughout Ontario.
  • We are a world leader in minimally-invasive surgical techniques.
  • Our Cardiology Division has one of the lowest patient mortality rates and largest patient volumes in North America.
  • We are officially designated under the Ontario French Language Services Act. The majority of our services are offered in both official languages.
  • The National Cardiac PET Centre is a designated provincial resource and a core facility for national imaging networks.
  • We have up to 100 clinical trials underway at any given time. This gives our patients to access to new methods of care that may not be otherwise available.

Selected Research Highlights

The Heart Institute’s internationally recognized research program has:

  • Identified the strongest genetic risk factor for coronary artery disease and heart attack to date (the 9p21 gene)—the first major risk factor discovered since cholesterol. Presence of this gene increases the risk of heart disease by 40 per cent.
  • Developed RapidGene, the world’s first bedside genetic test.
  • Discovered the genetic basis for atrial fibrillation, the most common form of cardiac arrhythmia, affecting 250,000 Canadians.
  • Established cardiac re-synchronization therapy as a standard of care for mild and moderate heart failure.
  • Grown blood vessels in damaged heart tissue, which suggests that the body’s own cells might one day be used to repair heart damage.
  • Developed Canada’s first cardiac autopsy guidelines now in use in Ontario.
  • Discovered a new mechanism for the mobilization and export of cholesterol from cells.

Photo of a man viewing scans on a computer

Educational Highlights

  • As an academic cardiovascular health centre, we train more than 280 medical, graduate, and post-graduate students each year. We also provide continuing training for nurses, technicians, technologists and other health professionals.
  • The Heart Institute provides continuing education and best practice training for health care professionals and institutions.
  • Our auditorium has recently been equipped to broadcast live surgeries from our surgical suite. This technology has greatly expanded education opportunities for medical residents, university and high school students
  • The Heart Institute provides continuing education and best-practice training for health care professionals and institutions.
  • UOHI develops patient education tools and programs that are used as models by other health care organizations.

Clinical Statistics 2010

In 2010, the Heart Institute performed more than:

  • 1,700 open heart procedures
  • 15,000 X-rays
  • 4,000 stress tests
  • 17,900 echocardiograms
  • 37,000 electrocardiograms
  • 3,500 cardiac CTs
  • 8,800 angioplasties and angiograms
  • 450 ablation procedures
  • 500 pacemaker implantations
  • 380 defibrillator implantations

Research Focus Areas

  • Cardiac imaging
  • Lipid metabolism
  • Behaviour and risk modification
  • Vascular biology
  • Clinical trials (drugs and devices)
  • Hypertension Cardiovascular endocrinology
  • Regenerative medicine and cellular therapy

Research Statistics 2011

  • Principal Investigators: 60
  • Research Staff: 175
  • Research Groups: 13
  • Research Funding : $31.4 million
  • Research Endowment: $49.5 million
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