North Oaks Heart Health Center Open House Activities Attract Over 200 Guests on Thursday, August 17

A public open house, featuring a physician panel and demos of one of two new catheterization laboratories, took place on Thursday, August 17, 2006 from 5:30-7 p.m. to celebrate the recent completion of a $3.6 million expansion of North Oaks Heart Health Center, located within North Oaks Medical Center in Hammond.

The over 200 guests in attendance had the opportunity to meet the Heart Health Center team of over 40 licensed professionals, including 12 cardiologists and three cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons, and get a firsthand look at facility upgrades. The upgrades include two new advanced Philips catheterization labs, a third Exercise Stress Lab and a new area for the Anticoagulation Management Outpatient Clinic.

“This open house culminates 3 years of planning and 9 months of construction that focused on enhancing the cardiovascular services we already provide to our community through centralization of services,” shares North Oaks Heart Health Center Director Tammy Murphy, RN, LCEP.

The physician panel discussion explored current heart health topics, including post-Katrina stress and advances in diagnostic and treatment options. North Oaks Chief Medical Officer James L. Nelson, MD, FACS, served as master of ceremonies for the physician panel. Panel participants included North Oaks Heart Health Center Director Tammy Murphy, RN, LCEP; Surgical Director and Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon Charles J. DiCorte, MD; Medical Director and Cardiologist Patrick A. Delaney, MD, FACC; and Cardiologists Bruce J. Iteld, MD, and Douglas K. Mendoza, MD.

In addition, guests were treated to tours, a mini health fair, door prize drawings and refreshments. Equipment demos along the tour route highlighted one of the two new advanced Philips Catheterization Labs, as well as echocardiogram and exercise stress lab capabilities. The mini health fair offered a variety of free screenings – including blood pressure and heart rate checks, heart risk assessments and pulse oximetry screenings to determine blood-oxygen levels – in addition to stations focusing on the heart-health related topics of diabetes, sleep disorders, nutrition and exercise.

North Oaks has offered heart health services for decades. In 2003, North Oaks grouped together its existing heart health services to create the comprehensive Heart Health Center. The Center provides a broad scope of heart health-related services – from prevention and diagnosis to treatment, recovery and rehabilitation.

To learn more about the North Oaks Heart Health Center, please call North Oaks Marketing/Business Development at (985) 230-6647 or visit www.northoaks.org.