A Heart for Giving
In 1995, George and Linda Kaufman were filled with gratitude following George’s successful heart transplant surgery at Cleveland Clinic. “We were so overwhelmed by the concept of a heart transplant and that George might have some extra time that we were pretty giddy about life,” Mrs. Kaufman recalled recently.
That gratitude has now transformed lives all over the world, thanks to a generous gift in 1998 from the couple to establish The George M. and Linda H. Kaufman Center for Heart Failure Treatment and Recovery at Cleveland Clinic.
Sharing Their Gratitude
During George’s time at Cleveland Clinic, the couple had become close with his cardiologist, James Young, MD, and his team. “We became wonderful friends during George's time there while waiting for a heart, and then particularly after he got the heart,” Mrs. Kaufman says.
“The doctors would come around and visit with us, and they were wonderful—everybody at the clinic was wonderful about the attention and the care they gave him,” Mrs. Kaufman says. “They told us they had been thinking about trying to create a comprehensive center to treat heart failure for a while. And we basically said, we'll give you the money.”
George Kaufman was a visionary real estate developer and founder of Guest Quarters, Inc., which developed hotels in cities including Washington D.C., Charlotte, Houston and Tampa. The company merged with The Doubletree Hotels Corporation in 1993. Linda Kaufman is president of the Kaufman Americana Foundation. The Kaufmans are well-known for their extensive collection of antique American furniture and decorative arts, which was gifted to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and is on permanent display.
Mr. Kaufman passed away in 2001, six years after his heart transplant. “Every day was a blessing,” says Mrs. Kaufman.
A Center for Expertise
Since its inception, the Kaufman Center has been one of the premier facilities in the United States for heart failure treatment. The multidisciplinary team members include experts in cardiovascular medicine, cardiothoracic surgery, infectious disease, immunology, pathology, pharmacy, nutrition, bioethics and social work. For more than 25 years, the generosity of the Kaufmans has been impacting heart failure treatments, research and education. In addition:
- The Kaufman Center Heart Failure Intensive Care Unit, is a recipient of the Beacon Award of Excellence for continuing improvements in providing the highest quality of care for patients. The center is part of a distinguished group of Gold award recipients for sustaining the highest level of performance in quality standards in patient safety and patient satisfaction.
- The center has a special nursing unit designed for less critical heart failure patients. The staff developed and uses a multidisciplinary checklist and program to make sure every patient knows how to manage their heart failure after they leave the hospital. The use of this checklist has reduced readmission rates and improved patient satisfaction.
- Since 2011, Cleveland Clinic has maintained the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines Heart Failure GOLD Plus Certification for improving the quality of care for patients with heart failure. Gold Plus distinction recognizes hospitals for their success in using Get With The Guidelines treatment interventions. This quality improvement program provides tools to guide evidence-based therapies and procedures in managing heart failure across the continuum of disease progression.
Continued Advocacy
In 2003, Mrs. Kaufman established the George M. and Linda H. Kaufman Endowed Chair at the Kaufman Center to help secure the future of medical research and education at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Young, co-founder and Medical Director of the Kaufman Center, was the inaugural holder of the chair. Following Dr. Young’s retirement in 2022, the chair was rededicated and is now held by Heart Failure Section Head, Amanda Vest, MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery).
Mrs. Kaufman continues to support Cleveland Clinic with annual gifts to the Kaufman Center.
Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Tom Mihaljevic has said of her, “One of Mrs. Kaufman’s gifts is to gather people around a common cause. That cause is healthcare. She is passionate about the health and wellness of others—her friends, her community in Virginia, and Cleveland Clinic patients who are in the greatest need of heart care.”
“I like to make people better if I can,” admits Mrs. Kaufman. “And I love the Cleveland Clinic. I just think the people there have an attitude that emphasizes excellence, and that's a hallmark for me.”
Cardiac Expert Developing New Device to Aid Heart Condition
Even when he’s not physically in the operating room, Jose Navia, MD, is still mentally scrubbed in and looking for new ways to enhance the heart health of his patients.
“I come to work every day thinking of ideas on how to improve the lives of my patients,” says Dr. Navia, a renowned cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon and Vice Chief of the Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic in Florida. “It's so important for the physician to improve the patient’s quality of life and prolong their life.”
Dr. Navia applied for a Catalyst Grant to develop a device aimed at treating dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart condition that stretches out your heart muscle, becoming abnormally large. It starts in the left ventricle, the heart’s main pumping chamber, and weakens blood flow to the rest of your body. Alongside a team of engineers and researchers, Dr. Navia is developing a transcatheter device intended to reduce the size of the heart in patients with this condition.
“This would be an elegant solution that is minimally invasive,” says Dr. Navia, the S. Donald Sussman Distinguished Chair in Heart and Vascular Research. “Usually, the patient doesn’t want to have a big surgery. This transcatheter approach would decrease the trauma the patient experiences and increase long-term survival.”
Many people with dilated cardiomyopathy may initially feel fine, showing no signs of the condition. However, as the disease progresses, symptoms begin to emerge and intensify. These can range from chest pain and a persistent cough to dizziness, fatigue and shortness of breath. Severe complications include cardiac arrest, blood clots and heart failure.
“It’s crucial to move the field of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery forward and any innovation that fixes a complex problem,” says Dr. Navia. “It makes the lives of people better. We’re extremely happy and honored to be awarded the Catalyst Grant.”
Catalyst Grants, funded annually by thousands of donor gifts, are awarded to caregivers with innovative ideas to improve lives at Cleveland Clinic and beyond. Dr. Navia received a $37,500 Catalyst SPARK award, which includes mentoring, project management and education from the Cleveland Clinic Proof of Concept office to support inventors from idea to invention.
“I think it's a tremendous opportunity to have this jumpstart,” says Dr. Navia. “There are a lot of people with good ideas, but they don't have the funding to really move the needle. So, philanthropy is extremely important to this endeavor. In the end, this is for the patient, and that’s priceless.”
Philanthropy Comes Naturally for Treasure Coast Couple
Chris and Whitney Chandor have a considerable history of volunteer and philanthropic work, supporting various educational, arts, cultural, and historical organizations. Chris has served on the board of the Heritage Conservancy, a land conservation nonprofit, for more than 35 years and Whitney has been significantly involved with Doylestown Hospital in Bucks County, Philadelphia since the 1970s.
“Our hospital was founded in 1923 by a dozen ladies,” Whitney says. “They started a hospital in their home and now it’s a 250-bed hospital where doctors do open heart surgery. I’ve served on the board and the Foundation board many times.”
Whitney and Chris, a successful attorney and semi-retired real estate developer, now split their time between their home in Bucks County, Philadelphia and the Treasure Coast. “We fell in love with the Treasure Coast twenty years ago,” says Chris.
The couple learned about Cleveland Clinic Tradition Hospital in 2024 after attending a donor event in their Harbor Ridge community that focused on the Emergency Department (ED) Fast Track project.
The ED Fast Track project will add six bays to treat low-acuity cases, with the goal of getting those patients in and out of the hospital in 90 minutes.
“I think it’s a very good idea,” Chris says. “It’s a very wise idea to segregate minor ailments like sore throat and earaches from appendicitis and heart attacks.” Whitney adds, “I’ve been very impressed with their innovation and was taken with this project.”
The couple wants to encourage others to support Tradition Hospital’s ED Fast Track project.
“We toured the hospital and liked what we saw,” says Chris. “Good healthcare is important, and we wanted to direct resources to that area. Someday you may find yourself in need of an ED or a hospital. You want to support it so it will be there for you.”
