Cardiology Expo And Open House

 Planned At Danbury Hospital

DANBURY –– To celebrate American Heart Month, Danbury Hospital is inviting the public to attend a Medical Town Meeting on the topic “What New in Cardiac Surgery?” on Tuesday, February 11, from 7 to 8:30 pm.

This special American Heart Month program will take place in the hospital’s John C. Creasy Center for Health Education auditorium. Preceding the meeting, there will be a cardio expo from 6 to 7 pm in the auditorium foyer featuring a free blood pressure screening and information about heart disease risk assessment, prevention and treatment, exercise, nutrition, yoga, massage therapy, Reiki, and Therapeutic Touch. Park free in the Blue Visitors’ parking lot, Hospital Avenue entrance.

The featured guest speaker at the Medical Town Meeting is Niloo Edwards, MD, FACS. Dr Edwards is the vice chairman of surgery and director of cardiac transplantation at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. His presentation includes discussion about artificial hearts, robotic surgery, and less traumatic coronary bypass grafting.

The Danbury Hospital Cardiology Department will conduct a community open house on Tuesday, February 25 (snow date: March 6), from 5 to 7 pm. Participants are invited to tour the hospital’s renovated cardiology testing facilities and to view demonstrations of noninvasive cardiac testing on the seventh floor of the Tower Building. Attendees also will be able to view images of a variety of heart studies, watch demonstrations of Holter monitoring (recording heartbeats to determine irregularities), and transtelephonic monitoring (pacemaker check by telephone).

Guests also will learn about cardiac catheterization and other invasive procedures, as well as explore the hospital’s cardiology website.

Mentoring Day at the Marcus Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Danbury Hospital also will be held on Tuesday, February 25. Cardiac rehabilitation patients are invited to bring a friend and introduce them to Danbury Hospital’s medically supervised exercise program for heart disease prevention from 1 to 7 pm. The Marcus Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Danbury Hospital is located in the fifth floor of the Tower Building. Long-term patients at the Marcus Cardiac Rehabilitation Center logged nearly 40,000 visits last year. For more information about the program, call 797-7983.

Danbury Hospital’s cardiology department treats more than 35,000 patients annually for heart disease, and continually improves services to address this leading cause of death through prevention, diagnostic, treatment, and research programs, as well as outreach and education in the community. In 2002, the department of cardiology experienced significant growth in nuclear cardiology, cardiology testing, and the defibrillator and pacemaker clinics. The cardiology department has maintained its commitment to exceptional quality outcomes with cardiac catheterization complication and death rates from heart attacks well below established benchmarks and state observed rates.

For more information about Danbury Hospital’s American Heart Month screenings and programs, call the marketing and community relations department at 797-7247. To view the hospital’s full health calendar, visit the website at www.danburyhospital.org.