SLCH Partners With Local Business on Heart Health Fair
Newburgh, NY –St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital (SLCH), the American Heart Association and Price Chopper teamed up to hold a Cardiovascular Health Fair at the grocery chain's Newburgh location on Feb. 20. The event included free blood pressure screenings by SLCH clinical staff and information on heart health. Dr. Mehul Patel, Medical Director of the Cardiovascular Institute at St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital, was also on hand to answer questions.
The event was organized by the family of Anthony Marullo, a Price Chopper employee who recently passed away because of a heart attack at the age of 48 without any previous signs or symptoms of heart disease. Marullo's girlfriend, mother, sister and brother-in-law are all Price Chopper employees.
More than 600,000 Americans die each year from heart disease, accounting for one out of every four deaths. In the United States someone suffers a heart attack every 43 seconds, and someone will die from a heart disease-related event every minute.
"Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States, and it is preventable," said Dr. Patel. "There are a lot of modifiable risk factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and unhealthy lifestyle that people can control. It is important for people to understand that this is a preventable disease."
SLCH has been nationally recognized for quality cardiovascular patient care. The hospital was a 2013 Top Performer on Key Quality Measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of health care organizations in the United States, in the measure sets of Heart Attack, Heart Failure and Stroke. SLCH has earned the American Stroke Association's "Get With the Guidelines Gold Plus Achievement Award" for excellence in stroke care, and performs above the national benchmarks in treating heart attacks, heart failure and emergency angioplasty.
