Bon Secours Offers Richmond Free Heart Health Assessments

HeartAware Program Easily Accessed from Home

Click here to begin your Heart Health Assessment.

Richmond, Va. (February 20, 2007)A computer and about seven minutes of your time will put you one step closer to heart health. Bon Secours Richmond’s Heart & Vascular Institute has debuted HeartAware, a confidential Internet based heart-risk assessment program available free of charge to the community. The program is exclusive to Bon Secours and available at www.bonsecours.com.

“Many people don’t understand their risks until they suffer a heart attack,” said Carolyn A. Burns, M. D., cardiology and medical director of St. Mary’s Hospital’s Cardiac Wellness Center. “Heart Aware is an efficient and effective way to avert a potential crisis situation.”

“HeartAware is a unique service, because it eliminates the cost and privacy concerns that many people have when seeking questions related to their heart health,” said Dr. Marc Katz, medical director of the Bon Secours Richmond Heart & Vascular Institute. “Because patients are contacted annually, it is also the only program that establishes a long-term relationship to partner with patients over time to encourage early recognition and treatment of heart disease.”

People who are identified as having a high risk of heart disease are provided a free and confidential appointment with a nurse expert for additional screening and education. If this testing demonstrates a need for a physician to perform additional diagnostic evaluation, the patient is appropriately referred to a physician.

“We are extremely pleased with the response we’ve had to the program,” said James B. Sherwood, vice president of the Heart & Vascular Institute. “We are excited to use 21 st century tools such as the Internet to meet the mission of the Sister of Bon Secours, which is to give good help to those in need. We have an opportunity to reach people like never before.”

“Though heart disease touches people of all ages, it’s smart for those over 40 to begin to watch their heart health a little more closely,” said Dr. Burns. “Also, people often don’t equate4 other symptoms like high blood pressure and diabetes with heart disease and they are very real contributors. These often appear later in life.”

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