Anchor-International Foundation, Inc. was founded in the United States in 1997, originally to support a cardiology clinic in St. Petersburg and to create an innovative preventive medicine program for Russia. The foundation currently administers medical and cultural programs in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The Foundation was granted a temporary 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service in 1997 and received a permanent designation in 2002.
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FINNAIR and CARDIOVASCULAR CONSULTANTS of Louisville, Kentucky are the Founding Corporate Sponsors of the Anchor-International Health Initiative
Other sponsors include Northern Trust of Florida and Exeter International.
Major Foundation donors include the Boscowitz Trust and the Turner Foundation.
History of the Foundation
In 1994, Dr. Ronald R. Masden, a renowned cardiologist from Louisville, Kentucky, established the International Heart Center ("CardioVascular Consultants/St. Petersburg"), the first interventional cardiology clinic in all of Russia — a country where the number one health problem is heart disease. For the first time hundreds of heart patients could be treated in St. Petersburg with angioplasties. These patients would otherwise have had to endure the pain, discomfort, and dangers of open heart surgeries, which have been the standard Soviet and post-Soviet treatment for serious heart problems.
Dr. Masden's organization, CardioVascular Consultants of Louisville, provided start-up funds to subsidize the clinic at first. Then, for a while, the Russian government supported the clinic on an experimental basis.
The effects were profound. For example, in the 40 year history of Moscow's biggest and best Cardiovascular Institute, only four stent procedures had been done in Russia. Then, in 1996, Dr. Masden's clinic completed 28 procedures in a single year.
Although the experiment was a success, and many lives were improved, so many health organizations in Russia began to compete for government funding that the clinic needed new systems to develop a more secure financial footing. A grant from CardioVascular Consultants created the Anchor-International Foundation and supported its successful pursuit of tax-exempt status.
Following the electoral defeat of Anatoly A. Sobchak, former Mayor of St. Petersburg, Russia, Mr. Sobchak became President of the foundation until his death in March, 2000.
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