Published on February 08, 2022

Community Support: The Foundation for Quality Heart Care

By: Angie Smith, Director, Fisher-Titus Foundation

Fisher-Titus is an independent, non-profit, community hospital that is small enough to put the needs and care of our community at the center of everything we do. Yet we are big enough to enjoy a breadth and quality in services that is rare for a rural health system.

Proximity to skilled care is vital, especially during a serious cardiac event like a heart attack. You may have heard the phrase “time is muscle” in relation to a heart attack. Because a heart attack is caused by a blockage in an artery or several arteries within your heart, heart muscle tissue may start to die from a lack of blood circulation, causing irreversible damage. “Time is muscle” because the more time it takes to receive care, the more you are at risk for permanent heart muscle damage, which can lead to limited recovery of heart function, and even death. The closer you are to high quality cardiac care that includes a catherization (cath) lab to open blockages, the better your chances of survival and of minimizing the damage to your heart muscle.

Receiving a skilled and rapid response requires a well-coordinated team of paramedics/EMTs, emergency room personnel, doctors, nurses, technicians, and support staff to save time. The Fisher-Titus health system provides us, our loved ones, and neighbors just that—access to care from a sophisticated, coordinated team of emergency and cardiac professionals.

From February 14, 2019 when we opened the Level II Adult Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory to January 2022, the Fisher-Titus Interventional Cardiology Program has performed 140 emergency and 289 nonemergent interventional cardiac procedures. That is over 300 procedures that patients would have previously had to travel outside our community to have done. Additionally, we have performed 730 diagnostic caths in that timespan.

Fisher-Titus continues to invest in the full continuum of heart care—from equipment in the field for North Central EMS to the latest cath lab technology to restore blood flow to the heart. Recent upgrades include:

  • A new ambulance for North Central EMS equipped with the latest heart monitoring technology to transmit data to the hospital from the scene, which allows care planning to start before the patient arrives, saving valuable time.
  • Completed renovation of one of our two existing cardiac cath labs with renovation for the second coming soon. The upgrades include the addition of state-of-the-art equipment with technology advancement to support the next decade of excellence in cardiovascular care.
  • Installation of the ScottCare system with lightweight vitals monitors and integrated technology to improve comfort, safety and progress monitoring.

These upgrades would not be possible without the support we have received from our community. Through Fisher-Titus Foundation events like the Golf Tournament, Cork & Kegs, the $10,000 Blooming Cash Raffle, and through individual donations, we raised over $130,000 for the renovation of the cardiac cath labs in 2021.

We invite our community to again support local heart and vascular care through the 2022 Fisher-Titus Foundation $10,000 Blooming Cash Raffle. When you purchase tickets for your chance to win the $1,000 Early Bird Prize and the $10,000 Grand Prize , you are supporting quality local heart and vascular care through the cath lab renovation project.

Tickets for the Blooming Cash Raffle are $20 per ticket or 3 tickets for $50. The Early Bird Drawing will take place on Thursday, March 10 at 11:30 a.m. Tickets purchased by 4 p.m. on March 7 will be included in the Early Bird Drawing (the Early Bird winner will be re-entered for the Grand Prize Drawing). The Grand Prize Drawing will take place on Thursday, March 31 and tickets must be purchased by 4 p.m. on March 28. Only 3,200 tickets will be sold.

Ticket can be purchase online at fishertitus.org/donate, at all Fisher-Titus Medical Offices, Sheri’s Coffee House’s Downtown Norwalk location, or by calling the Foundation office at (419) 660-2920. For more information visit, fishertitus.org/raffle.