Hadassah’s Heart Failure and Heart Muscle Disease Center reaches out to the community to bridge the gap between hospital-based and community-based medicine.

Led by Prof. Andre Keren, a world-recognized specialist in heart muscle disease, the Center initiated nurse-specialist based heart failure programs at the three major health maintenance organizations in Jerusalem. Hadassah physicians with expertise in managing heart failure travel to the various local clinics to consult with family physicians on the more difficult patients.

Recently, the Clalit Health Plan asked physicians from the Hadassah Heart Failure Center to give a presentation on their program, since the heart failure mortality in Jerusalem is notably lower than that in other parts of the country.

In November, the Heart Failure Center held an informational seminar free of charge for heart failure patients and their caregivers. The standing-room only crowd was a testimony to the Heart Failure Center’s success in reaching heart failure patients in Jerusalem.