Kia Soul Drives Victor Chang Health Check Booth

SYDNEY – February 24, 2011: The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI), internationally recognised as a centre-of-excellence and leader in global cardiac research, is expanding its public health profile with the support of Kia Motors Australia.

The institute, affectionately referred to as “The Chang”, has recently hit the roads with The Health Check Booth Service along with a Kia Soul to transport the inflatable booth, equipment and Health Check staff to corporations and organisations across Sydney.

“There is a cost involved with supplying the service with two nurses and the equipment and materials required for the testing,” VCCRI spokeswoman Jan Savage explained. “What we are envisaging is that employers, shopping centres and maybe local governments would meet the cost to have the booths on site as a public health initiative.”

The test process takes around 10 minutes and targets key heart disease indicators in cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.

The mission of the Health Check Booth is “to encourage employers to invest in the heart health of their employees and enhance their well being by providing a service to increase awareness of the modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease”.

“We often refer to a heart attack as ‘the disease that doesn’t let you say goodbye’,” Savage added. “Unfortunately, heart disease doesn’t have the high profile of some other diseases, cancer for example, but it is just as deadly, far more sudden and very often preventable if identified.”

Along with Kia, The Health Check Booth Service is also generously supported by Sydney’s Flemington Markets which was the location of the Booth’s first trip.

“The popularity of the Health Check Booth was confirmed at our first outing at Flemington Markets when there were lines all day with people waiting for the chance to get a check-up. It does illustrate that where people will not go to a doctor for something as simple as these checks, they will utilise the service if it comes to them,” Savage said.

The choice of Kia’s funky Soul as the support vehicle for the VCCRI support vehicle is a clear winner with the car’s high profile and roomy interior meeting all the key requirements.

The Soul range consists of two model grades; the Soul and Soul+ and includes standard features such as ESC (Electronic Stability Control) with traction control, folding keys, trip computer, and front and rear passenger seatbelt reminders.

The Soul+ also comes with 16” alloy wheels, front fog lamps, a wide view bumper, side sill moulding and eye liner lights giving it a striking appeal, a tilt and telescopic steering wheel with remote audio controls and driver’s seat with height adjustment.

Additionally the diesel version of the Soul+ has cruise control.

The Soul is powered by the 4-cylinder 1.6-litre petrol engine which can be matched to either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission.

The Soul+ is available with either the petrol engine or the 1.6-litre CRDi diesel engine also available with manual or automatic transmission.

The Soul and Soul+ have a 5-star ANCAP safety rating, are available in six striking colours and like all new Kia vehicles sold in Australia is covered by the peace of mind offered by Kia’s 5-year/unlimited kilometre warranty for private buyers.

Recommended retail pricing for the Kia Soul starts at $21,490 for the Soul petrol manual through to $29,190 for the range topping Soul+ diesel automatic.