The mission of the Sona Shah Heart Foundation is to save lives around the world by providing access and quality health care to the poor.

Our camps are different from others in that we provide follow up care to the patients we see, and, as such, we create medical records for all of the patients. Our current project is in Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh, in rural India. We have installed video cameras in the intensive care unit so we can provide guidance remotely from the United States. We have trained physicians and nurses to recognize and treat acute myocardial infarctions. In the past year, we have been able to treat 60 patients, and they have all survived. We have treated over 5500 patients and have continued to follow up treatment by traveling every six months alongside providing telemedicine. Our foundation also helps pay for patients who need cardiac procedures and are unable to afford it. We have paid for cardiac catheterization and bypass surgery for about 35 patients. We also help the communities we serve with donations of food, clothing, and school supplies. So far, we have donated over 2000 pounds of clothing.

The Sona Shah Heart Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization where 100% of the proceeds go directly to patient care and help in the community we serve.

Our latest project for the past two years has been in Chitrakoot, India.  Chirakoot is located in the state of Madhya Pradesh, in northern India, and is a segregated city where basic needs are a scarce. There is one charity hospital located in Chitrakoot which is run by the Sevasung Sadguru Trust.  The hospital aims to take care of the city of Chitrakoot as well as the surrounding 34 villages, as there is no other hospital. However, the Sadguru Trust’s main focus is treating eyes, and mainly cataracts in rural India. To this end, the hospital does about 800 cataract surgeries a day. They treat babies as young as one month old to adults., their cataract surgery, and a three day surgery recovery stay all at no cost to the patient. The hospital feeds more than 10,000 people a day.  Our latest project for the past two years has been in Chitrakoot, India.  Chirakoot is located in the state of Madhya Pradesh, in northern India, and is a segregated city where basic needs are a scarce. There is one charity hospital located in Chitrakoot which is run by the Sevasung Sadguru Trust.  The hospital aims to take care of the city of Chitrakoot as well as the surrounding 34 villages, as there is no other hospital. However, the Sadguru Trust’s main focus is treating eyes, and mainly cataracts in rural India. To this end, the hospital does about 800 cataract surgeries a day. They treat babies as young as one month old to adults., their cataract surgery, and a three day surgery recovery stay all at no cost to the patient. The hospital feeds more than 10,000 people a day.

Although the hospital and the trust have done an excellent job in treating eye problems, I saw that other areas of treatment were desperately lacking. Sona and I were so impressed with their charity work, we reached out to offer help. This was a start of a beautiful relationship between the Trust and Sona and I, where we made a commitment to conduct camps every six months for the next five years.

Thus far, we have done four camps, and I have treated over 3,200 patients. These patients come from the surrounding villages as well as surrounding cities. They are extremely poor and many travel nine to ten hours to get treatment. I was shocked to see the number of patients that came in with cardiac issues. The trust and I worked together prior to the camp beginning to make sure the proper medications were available to the patients at a discounted rate. Many patients in the past who suffered a heart attack in this region do not have any other options, than to hope that they survive the attack. In December of 2018, we trained and educated the local physicians and with the help of video conferencing were able to guide treatment from the United States. We are now able to help patients who have suffered a heart attack with life saving therapy to break up the blood clots in the artery and save their life.

Last year, Sona and I created a nonprofit organization called the “Sona Shah Heart Foundation” which donates 100 percent of the proceeds to helping the patients and the less fortunate that comes to our camp. Over the time spent, Sona and I have donated over 1800 pounds of clothing to orphans who are abandoned in the jungle and supported children at the school for the blind with basic needs.  We have also helped patients get surgery without which they would not survive.  These patients are referred to larger cities in India about 7 hours away for their surgery. In November of 2019, we have eight physicians with different specialties to come and help in our camp. We will be able to do advanced general surgery, see children and treat patients with women issues.

Our accomplishments:

• Over 3200 patients have been seen and treated
• We are able to treat heart attack patients from the United States with the use of video conferencing
• We have donated over 1800 pounds of clothing to the orphanage
• We have donated 500 blankets during the winter season for people sleeping in the street
• We have donated school supplies for 400 children to the orphanage
• Over 30 patients sponsored to get life-saving surgery
• We continue to work with the Trust to build their medical program