One week from today, the inaugural CS Mott Children’s Hospital Pro-Am will debut as part of the 2018 LPGA Volvik Championship week on the Travis Pointe Country Club golf course in Ann Arbor and Saline Michigan. [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
More specifically, this partnership has been fostered to benefit the incredible work being done every day at the Congenital Heart Center — part of CS Mott and the University of Michigan Health System. The National Institutes of Health describes congenital heart defects as conditions where “some part of the heart doesn’t form properly before birth, [changing] the normal flow of blood through the heart.” [8]
Each year, approximately 40,000 babies are born with congenital heart defects (CHDs). A quarter of those are critical, generally requiring surgery or related interventions within their first year of life. [9,10]
The CS Mott Congenital Heart Center team “provides comprehensive care spanning all aspects of acquired and congenital pediatric heart disease and congenital heart care.”
“I thought of the FedEx-St Jude Classic as a model of something that we’d like to try to build,” said Dr John R Charpie MD PhD, when introducing the concept to attendees at the 2018 LPGA Volvik Championship Media Day on May 1. Dr Charpie is Professor and Division Director of Pediatric Cardiology and Co-Director of the CS Mott Congenital Heart Center. [11,12]
Last week he agreed to be interviewed by Saline Journal to provide a better understanding of the greater need this fundraiser will help serve.
He began by noting that congenital heart defects “are the most common type of birth defect, occurring in nearly 1 in 100 infants. Another group of children acquire heart disease during childhood.
“This fundraiser will support clinical innovation and cutting edge research focused on improving outcomes and quality of life for all children with heart disease. The purpose of the Monday Pro-Am is to raise awareness and philanthropic support for pediatric heart disease research at the University of Michigan CS Mott Children’s Hospital Congenital Heart Center (U-M CHC) …. The Monday Pro-Am is the primary opportunity to support the U-M CHC.” [13]
Saline Journal: “What would you like readers to be thinking about in the weeks and months following the Pro-Am next week?”
Dr Charpie: “The need to support research on pediatric heart disease is an on-going critical need that will continue long after the 2018 LPGA tournament is finished. For every dollar of federal funding spent on research for various diseases and conditions, less than one-tenth of one percent is directed towards research on pediatric heart disease ….”
Saline Journal: “What attracted CS Mott Congenital Heart Center to the LPGA Volvik Championship?”
Dr Charpie: “Now in its third year, the LPGA Volvik Championship at Travis Pointe Country Club is an exciting, highly visible, and increasingly successful professional golf tournament that partners with local businesses to have a significant economic impact. [As such], provides an outstanding platform to engage regional, national, and international audiences to educate them about pediatric heart disease and exceptional clinical care and innovative research occurring at the University of Michigan CS Mott Children’s Hospital.
“We look forward to a long-term relationship that we believe will lead to more patient referrals, and many stories in the future of how families learned about us through this partnership.”
Saline Journal: “What does this affilation mean in terms of the age-old cliché about doctors and golf?”
Dr Charpie: “It is interesting to reflect on the age-old belief about physicians and golf. I’m not sure exactly where it originated, but I can honestly say that there is, perhaps, a disproportionate appreciation for golf among my colleagues.
“Nonetheless, in my experience, the many years of training in medicine, the long hours, and the complete devotion to the job keeps most physicians from being nearly as good as they think they are!”
As of this writing, playing spots for the May 21 Pro-Am are reportedly still available. See the Volvik Championshop website for details on how to make inquiries by eMail or phone.
References
For those who do not play golf or are otherwise not in a position to participation in the game on Monday, the University of Michigan CS Mott Children’s Hospital Congenital Heart Center gratefully accepts fully tax-deductable donations. Payment can be made to “U-M CHC LPGA Pro-Am,” and sent in care of Michigan Medicine Office of Development, 1000 Oakbrook Drive, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.
- CS Mott Children’s Hospital (home page).
- “CS Mott links up with LPGA for Volvik tournament” Matt Charboneau (May 1, 2018) The Detroit News.
- “How to play in a PGA Tour pro-am and how do they work” (February 7, 2017) Golf News Net.
- “Love Golf? You Need To Play In a Pro-Am ASAP” Larry Olmsted (July 15, 2011) Forbes.
- “Five reasons why pro-ams are the best golf events ever for amateurs” Jason Scott Deegan (March 17, 2017) Golf Advisor.
- Volvik Championship (home page).
- Travis Pointe Country Club (home page).
- “Congenital Heart Center” CS Mott Children’s Hospital.
- “Types of Congenital Heart Defects” National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health & Human Services.
- “Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs): Data & Statistics” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- “LPGA Volvik Championship partners with Mott Children’s Hospital” MLive (May 1, 2018) YouTube.
- FedEx St Jude Classic (home page).
- “CS Mott Children’s Hospital Congenital Heart Center LPGA Pro-Am” Volvik Championship.
