Sultan of Oman Grants Gift to Fund Endowed Chair
for Cardiac Electrophysiology Research at the Texas Heart Institute
at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital
(Houston - April 17, 2009) The Texas Heart Institute (THI) at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital (St. Luke’s) announces the creation of an endowed chair for cardiac electrophysiology studies and research established through a gift from the Sultan of Oman.
Madame Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy, Oman’s Ambassador to the United States, personally presented the second $1 million installment of a $3 million grant to St. Luke’s on March 11. Accepting the gift were THI’s Denton A. Cooley, MD, founder, surgeon-in-chief and president emeritus and James Willerson, MD, president and medical director.
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| From left to right: Eddie Awediah, personal envoy to the Omani Foreign Secretary; James Willerson, MD, president and medical director, Texas Heart Institute; Ali Massumi, MD, Texas Heart Institute; Madame Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy, Oman’s Ambassador to the United States; Denton A. Cooley, MD, founder, surgeon-in-chief and president emeritus, Texas Heart Institute; David C. Pate, MD, JD, chief executive officer, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and senior vice president, St. Luke's Episcopal Health System; and Warren Whitehead, vice president, St. Luke's Episcopal Health System. |
“We are very grateful to the Sultan for his generosity, which will be used to fund this very important chair and our efforts to understand the causes of cardiac arrhythmias and develop treatments to eliminate and prevent them,” said Dr. Willerson. “The Sultan’s gift is more than a gift to our institution – it’s also a gift that will benefit patients in Houston, in Oman and across the globe.”
Proceeds of the first two installments will fund a permanently endowed chair in cardiac electrophysiology that will honor the Sultan of Oman and Ali Massumi, MD, director of the Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias and Electrophysiology for the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital.
“It has been and is a great privilege and honor to take care of the Sultan’s family needs and others from Oman who have sought care at St. Luke’s,” said Dr. Massumi. “The Sultan’s gift is a great testimony to His Majesty’s generosity and concern for his subjects in Oman and also for the citizens of the world.”
“This gift exemplifies St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital’s renowned international reputation for excellence in patient care, particularly in Oman where the Sultan’s family has experienced our care firsthand,” said David C. Pate, MD, JD, chief executive officer, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and senior vice president, St. Luke's Episcopal Health System. “We are proud to be a destination for international patients’ medical needs.”
Over the last three decades, Dr. Cooley and Dr. Massumi have provided medical care for the Sultan’s family members and other Omani patients. At the presentation ceremony, Ambassador Al-Mughairy commended St. Luke’s and THI for their concerted efforts “to treat and research some of the most challenging health issues that face humankind, particularly cardiac arrhythmias and heart failure.”
For more information about St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, please visit
www.sleh.com. Information about the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s is available at
www.texasheartinstitute.org.
For Texas Heart Institute and St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System media profiles, see
Public Affairs.
