St. Francis Medical Center Forms "Human Chain Heart" for American Heart Month

The healthcare team at St. Francis Medical Center joined together on its center campus today to create a human chain heart to symbolize the hospital’s commitment to prevent heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 610,000 people die from the condition each year, which equates to one in every four deaths. St. Francis Medical Center wants to dramatically decrease that number.

“February is American Heart Month. Our team is sending a message loud and clear with our human chain heart,” said Dawn Torress-Cook, manager of Interventional Services and STEMI Receiving Center Program at St. Francis Medical Center. “Heart disease can be prevented through awareness, education, and lifestyle changes. People don’t have to die.”

The team includes the doctors, nurses, and staff who are part of St. Francis Medical Center’s heart and vascular services and outreach programs promoting heart health. They work directly with patients affected by heart disease, providing life-saving intervention as well as screenings, education, and treatment for prevention.

Those they have treated include the 462 patients who received immediate, crucial care through the hospital’s STEMI Receiving Center, which opened in March 2014. A STEMI, or ST elevation myocardial infarction, is one of the most common and deadly forms of heart attack. Patients experiencing a STEMI are at risk of developing sudden cardiac arrest. They require immediate catheterization intervention by a trained cardiologist and treatment ranging from a stent to angioplasty to open heart surgery. As an approved STEMI Receiving Center for Los Angeles County, St. Francis provides direct response and medical care for area patients undergoing a STEMI, which minimizes risk for long term heart damage.

Going beyond emergency response, St. Francis’ Heart Center includes state-of-the-art imaging capabilities using advanced MRI and CT technology to improve the diagnosis and treatment of heart and vascular conditions. In addition, less invasive endovascular medicine is available, such as diagnostic cauterizations and angioplasty, as well as traditional cardiovascular surgery, open heart surgery, automatic implantable cardiac defibrillators, and a pacemaker clinic.

Today’s human-chain heart emphasized awareness and prevention, and St. Francis is at the forefront with its Vida Sana program. Vida Sana is a community wellness initiative that advances heart health
through a 12-month curriculum of heart disease education, diet and nutrition classes, stress reduction courses, and physical fitness activities to establish healthy lifestyles. Since its inception in 2004, Vida Sana has helped more than 51,000 participants move more, eat healthier, and become more heart health aware.

“Our human-chain heart represents our collaborative commitment to preventing heart disease in our community and across the nation,” summed up Torress-Cook. “We stand together in celebration of living life healthy, and loving life well into the future.”

Photo ID: Members of St. Francis Medical Center’s healthcare team along with first responders from LA County Fire Station 147 created a human chain heart in support of February American Heart Month and heart disease prevention.

St. Francis Medical Center is the only comprehensive, non-profit health care institution serving Southeast Los Angeles. A part of Verity Health System, St. Francis is dedicated to providing vital healthcare services for the 700,000 adults and 300,000 children who count on the hospital for high quality and compassionate medical care. St. Francis is recognized for its full range of diagnostic and treatment services in specialties including Cardiovascular, Surgical, Maternal-Child Health, and Trauma, in addition to its essential role in LA County’s Public/Private Health Care Safety Net, and its broad array of outreach programs. St. Francis is an Approved Primary Stroke Care Center and STEMI Receiving Center for Los Angeles County.

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