Uplands Golf Club Annual Heart Tournament - Victoria Hospitals Foundation

Thank you for participating in the

44thUplands Golf Club Annual Heart Tournament!

Thank You for Advancing Cardiac Care Here on Vancouver Island

Since 1978, the Uplands Golf Club Heart Tournament has raised more than $3 million for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation to bring leading-edge cardiac equipment to Island Health and its Heart Health program at Royal Jubilee Hospital. Together, we’ve made this outstanding golf experience the longest running, most successful charity tournament in BC.

We know that healthcare is on everyone’s mind. COVID-19 has changed many things, but not the critical importance of cardiac care here in Victoria. Open heart surgeries are still being performed, life-saving stent insertions are happening day and night, and thousands of diagnostic tests are directing care for cardiac patients.

This year, member players, sponsors, and other supporters helped fund a lifesaving Minimal Access Surgical Set for mitral valve surgery. This equipment allows for a less invasive procedure with less operative trauma, a shorter hospital stay and overall less recovery time.

Photos from the 2021 Tournament

Click on the below buttons to see more photos from each tournament:

Women’s Play: Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Men’s Play: Sunday, July 18, 2021

The Play Fore Hearts 50/50 & Prize Raffle is Complete!

Our first-ever Play Fore Hearts 50/50 raffle and prize lottery has come to a close! Winners of half the 50/50 jackpot and the three one-week Vancouver Island getaways have been drawn and names are posted on the HeartsLottery.ca website. Thank you to all those that participated—you sold out tickets for the prize raffle and helped grow the 50/50 jackpot to over $78,000!

BC Gaming licence #128463 & #128462. Know your limit, play within it. 19+ to play. www.bcresponsiblegambling.ca

Help Cardiac Care When Our Hospitals Need it Most

With your help over the past 42 years, we have raised money to contribute state-of-the-art equipment for the cardiac care unit at Royal Jubilee Hospital. In 2020, funds went towards the purchase of a portable echocardiography ultrasound machine.

2019 & 2020: Echocardiography

In 2019 and 2020, funds raised supported new Echocardiogram ultrasounds for Royal Jubilee Hospital. The 2019 Tournament contributed $100,000 toward this vital equipment. In 2020, the virtual tournament raised over $100,000.

The new ultrasound systems for the Echocardiography Lab will increase the number of high-quality diagnostic cardiac imaging procedures that can be conducted in a day, thereby speeding up diagnosis and potentially life-saving treatment options for patients.

2017 & 2018: Heart Catheterization Laboratory

Funds raised in 2017 and 2018 helped fund a new C-Arm for the Heart Catheterization Laboratory at Royal Jubilee Hospital as part of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s $3.2 million In A Heartbeat campaign. $160,000 was raised through the 2017 Heart Tournament and $120,000 was raised in 2018.

Not every cardiovascular ailment requires surgery, but many still require intervention. Patients requiring this specialized care called Interventional Cardiology specialty come to the Heart Catheterization Lab at Royal Jubilee Hospital.

Our expert caregivers in the Heart Catheterization Lab and the Didar S. (Ted) Doman Cardiac Short Stay Unit pioneered an innovative radial artery access approach for diagnostic and complex interventional cardiac procedures. These involve a catheter is introduced through the patient’s wrist rather than their groin. In fact, Royal Jubilee Hospital and its clinicians are so renowned for interventional cardiac care that they host an international fellowship in Interventional Cardiology, a program which is regularly full to capacity.

A floor-mounted C-arm fluoroscopic X-ray system is used during an angiogram. This diagnostic procedure is performed by a cardiologist to obtain detailed X-ray images of the patient’s heart and coronary blood vessels. The images produced by an angiogram help the doctor identify any arteries that are narrowed or blocked, exactly where those blockages are, and their size. This interventional diagnostic procedure is performed for patients who have experienced symptoms of concern, who have a significant family history of heart disease, or who have had an abnormal cardiac stress test—all possible indicators of heart disease.

2016: Electrophysiology Laboratory

In 2016, the Uplands community helped fund an Electrophysiology Recording System for the Electrophysiology Lab by contributing $145,000 toward the purchase of this vital equipment.

Electrophysiology (EP) is a cardiac specialty that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of complex heart rhythm disorders, also known as arrhythmias. When a patient’s heart requires mechanical support, electrophysiologists are trained to properly program, implant, and monitor a full spectrum of cardiac devices including pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs).

An EP recording system is the central point for images, waveforms, and other patient data to create a combined picture for the care teams in the Electrophysiology Lab. Visualization of the electrical behaviour of the heart provided by the recording system is essential for our cardiac teams to design patient care strategies and perform life-saving diagnostic and treatment procedures.

2015: Cardiac Critical Care

In 2015, the $135,000 raised through the Heart Tournament supported new external pacemakers for the cardiac critical care units at Royal Jubilee Hospital.

These external pacemakers are used for patients recovering from open-heart surgery or who are suffering from cardiac ailments that create abnormal slow heart rates. When a patient’s heart is not beating normally, an external pacemaker can be used to deliver electric current impulses through its attached leads to normalize the heartbeat.

At Royal Jubilee Hospital, the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit is an eight-bed unit where patients recover directly following open-heart or other cardiac surgical procedures. On average, a combination of three to five open-heart, thoracic/abdominal aneurysm, and/or laser-lead surgeries are accommodated on a daily basis.

2014: Medical and Surgical Heart Health Units

In 2014, the Heart Tournament raised $135,000 for a Telemetry System for the Medical and Surgical Heart Health Units in the Royal Jubilee Hospital Patient Care Centre (PCC).

The Medical Heart Health Unit is a 24-bed unit in the PCC. Here, our care teams offer specialized care for arrhythmia management for patients with a variety of cardiovascular conditions. A pacemaker program is also part of the unit’s care delivery model, as is the highly recognized same‐day cardiac surgical admission education program.

The Surgical Heart Health Unit is a 16-bed unit also located in the PCC where open-heart surgery patients are cared for while they recover following surgery after their stay in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit.

This telemetry system funded by the Tournament means patients on these units are able to be remotely monitored by their caregivers as they move about their room, the unit, and the hospital. This means a safer environment for patients’ recovery because their care teams can keep a closer watch. Vital signs and heart rhythms are all captured in one central monitoring system, improving care and efficiencies.

2013: Cardiac Rehabilitation

Similar to 2014, the 2013 tournament raised $140,000 for Telemetry Equipment for the Cardiac Rehabilitation program at Royal Jubilee Hospital.

The Heart Function Clinic plays a vital role in this program. Here, education and medical management is provided to people living with cardiovascular disease to improve their quality of life. Patients are generally in contact with the clinic for about six months, receiving medical assessment by a cardiologist and tests as required. They also receive guidance, support, and referrals to other programs and services in the community such as nutritional and exercise counselling, self-management education, and support groups.

The wireless telemetry equipment monitors cardiac patients while they move freely during exercise. The system can detect certain conditions before a patient even experiences any symptoms, allowing for early intervention and treatment.

Hear From A Cardiac Care Patient

As a grateful cardiac patient, Fran knows firsthand the life-saving impact of specialized cardiac equipment at Royal Jubilee Hospital. Fran didn’t show any symptoms, but she was born with a defective aortic valve. When Fran’s doctor sent her for an echocardiogram, it revealed that her condition was life-threatening. Fran needed open-heart surgery right away—and the cardiac team at Royal Jubilee Hospital was there for her.

Fran is also a proud member of the Uplands Golf Club. She’s sharing her heart health story in support of the Uplands Golf Club Annual Heart Tournament. The 2020 tournament funded a Portable Echocardiography Ultrasound Machine—the same equipment that was essential to Fran’s diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Register and donate to join the tournament now and improve cardiac care for patients like Fran.