Lino A. Saputo, Jr. appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of the Foundation

July 4, 2018
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The Montreal Heart Institute Foundation announces the appointment of Lino A. Saputo, Jr. as the new Chair of its Board of Directors. Mr. Saputo, Jr. took office on July 3^rd, succeeding Henri-Paul Rousseau who occupied the position for nine years.

“Cardiovascular diseases affect many families in Canada and mine is no exception.” said Lino A. Saputo, Jr., Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “My father was admitted to the Montreal Heart Institute a few years ago for a myocardial infarction and is now in good health thanks to the exceptional care he received. This personal experience confirmed my commitment to contribute to the development and recognition of the Montreal Heart Institute as one of the world’s top three cardiology centres. We have ambitious plans for this world-class facility. We will aim to attract and keep the experts here in Montreal to help patients get the best possible treatments and to tackle the disease, thus benefiting us all today and into the future.”

“We are extremely happy to welcome Mr. Saputo as Chair of the Board of Directors,” said Josée Noiseux, CEO of the Foundation. “As an accomplished and inspiring business leader, as well as a passionate philanthropist, he will be able to bring communities in Montreal, and throughout Quebec, together to pursue the excellent work of his predecessor, Mr. Rousseau. I want to warmly thank Mr. Rousseau for his dedication to the Foundation.”

The Foundation, at the heart of progress

Since its creation in 1977, the Montreal Heart Institute has collected nearly $260 million in donations, including $18.1 million over the past year alone. These generous contributions have allowed the Institute, renowned for performing the first heart transplant and first coronary angioplasty in Canada, to become the largest cardiology research centre in the country. The Institute was also the first hospital centre in Canada to be accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “Health Promoting Hospital” and became a leader in North America in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases when it created the first Prevention Division in a hospital setting.  Moreover, thanks to the donations collected by the Foundation, the Montreal Heart Institute has, among other things, inaugurated its genetic cardiovascular centre in 2016 and purchased Canada’s first Da Vinci Xi robotic surgical system which allowed the 68,000 patients who visited the Institute last year to receive ultra-specialized, innovative treatments in a modern environment equipped with state-of-the-art technology, right here in Montreal.

Prevent, Predict, Treat

In 2014, the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation launched the Predict, Prevent, Treat campaign based on four pillars: cardiovascular imaging, cardiovascular genetics, prevention, and the modernization of care. The campaign raised $138 million and is a project for the entire community in Quebec, without whom the Institute could not pursue its ambitious project.

About the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation

The mission of the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation is to raise and administer funds to support the Institute’s priority and innovative projects and help its fight against cardiovascular diseases, the number-one cause of death worldwide. Since its creation in 1977, the Foundation has donated close to 260 million dollars to the Montreal Heart Institute.