Boston Cardiac Foundation Marks 14th Annual Charity Event, Welcomes New Advisors
MELROSE, Mass. — The Boston Cardiac Foundation marked its 14th annual charitable golf tournament with a day of fundraising and community engagement, bringing together 70 golfers and more than 100 guests and donors at Bellevue Golf Club in Melrose, MA.
The annual event supports the foundation’s mission of providing cardiac care and education to underserved communities around the world. This year’s tournament featured a helicopter ball drop, air-cannon shot and putting competition before an evening dinner and gathering at the club.
A central part of the event was the recognition of five new members of the Boston Cardiac Foundation’s Board of Advisors: Dr. Manju Sheth, Partha Ghosh, Pramod Pandey, Veena Handa and Dr. Aman Kalra.
The new advisors bring experience in medicine, business and community service as the foundation looks to expand its cardiac-care and education programs.
More than 1,000 cardiac procedures
The foundation was established around a mission of bringing modern cardiac treatment to communities where patients may have limited access to specialized care. Over more than 35 years, volunteer teams of physicians, nurses and medical technologists have traveled internationally to provide procedures at no cost to patients.
Under the leadership of Dr. Salil Midha, the foundation has performed more than 1,000 cardiac procedures, including pacemaker implantations.
BCF missions have reached communities in India, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Haiti, Paraguay and Cape Verde. The foundation continues to conduct missions in Haiti twice a year.
The organization has also received significant support from medical-device manufacturers. Medtronic has contributed more than $4 million in devices and supplies, according to the foundation, while local representatives of Medtronic and Abbott have continued to support its work.
Education becomes a growing focus
In addition to providing procedures, the foundation has increasingly emphasized physician education and the transfer of specialized cardiac-care knowledge to local medical teams.
During a February 2026 mission to New Delhi and Meerut, India, BCF physicians performed single- and dual-chamber pacemaker implantations and defibrillator procedures while providing hands-on training in left bundle branch pacing, an advanced cardiac pacing technique.
The mission included Dr. Leon Ptaszek of Massachusetts General Hospital, who worked alongside local physicians on pacemaker, defibrillator and left bundle branch pacing procedures.
The mission marked Dr. Midha’s 46th international medical mission.
CPR program planned for October
The foundation is preparing to expand its educational efforts beyond specialized cardiac procedures. In October, BCF plans to launch a CPR education program at Arpana Hospital in Karnal, Haryana, India.
Teams from Boston, Seattle and Hyderabad are expected to train hospital staff and villagers in CPR techniques based on American Heart Association standards.
The initiative is intended to expand to additional cities in India, giving health care workers and community members training to respond to cardiac emergencies.
The foundation’s humanitarian work has received international recognition. In 2011, Dr. Midha and the BCF team were recognized in the Limca Book of Records after implanting 11 charitable pacemakers in a single day.
BCF also credits partner hospitals, including Jaswant Rai Specialty Hospital in Meerut, Sitaram Bhartia Hospital in New Delhi and Global Hospital in Mount Abu, with helping facilitate its international medical missions.
With its new Board of Advisors and expanding focus on education, the Boston Cardiac Foundation is positioning its annual fundraising efforts to support another chapter of its international cardiac-care mission.
