Philips Foundation, with its mission to provide access to quality healthcare for disadvantaged communities through innovation, and social service agency Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) has announced a partnership to improve cardiac incident outcomes in communities by increasing access to quality healthcare.

The year-long program to fund the newly-named 'SHF – Philips Foundation Heart Wellness Centre' aims to reduce the mortality rate of cardiac incidences by at least 50% (compared to patients who do not participate) and lower an individual's risk of hospital readmission by 25%.

The SHF – Philips Foundation Heart Wellness Centre, whose rehabilitation programs and operations will be funded by Philips Foundation in the coming year, will tackle this problem and drive higher participation in rehabilitation programs by enabling access in the heart of the community.

This partnership will also see 20 locales in Singapore equipped with automated external defibrillators (Philips HeartStart automated external defibrillator- AEDs) and 500 individuals trained in CPR+AED over one year to build ready and resilient communities that are better equipped to deal with occurrences of cardiac incidents.

Image caption- (L to R) Ivy Lai, Country Manager, Philips Singapore, Denise Phua, Mayor of Central Singapore District, and Dr Tan Yong Seng, Chairman of Singapore Heart Foundation’s Heart Wellness Centres at the unveiling of the Singapore Heart Foundation-Philips Foundation Heart Wellness Centre, one of only three such public community-based cardiac rehabilitation centres in Singapore. (Photo: Philips Singapore)