Tip Sheets

Edition 1 2/1/2005

Florida Hospital patients hold their hearts this Valentine’s season. You might be thinking of candy hearts or heart-shaped balloons, but these hearts are actually helping open-heart surgery patients heal. Learn more about how heart pillows made by volunteers provide comfort for patients when they need it most.

Speaking of hearts, heart disease is the number one killer of American women. One in every three women dies of heart disease and the risk really starts to rise in middle age. But, only 13 percent of women consider heart disease to be their own greatest health risk. Talk to a Florida Hospital cardiologist about how women can significantly lower their risk.

Stomping out the silent killer. As many as one in four adults are affected by high blood pressure, and since the disease rarely exhibits noticeable symptoms, a third of those people don’t even know they have it. High blood pressure can lead to congestive heart failure, kidney disease, aneurysms, and blindness. But now, doctors at Florida Hospital Centra Care are providing FREE blood pressure screenings during the month of February. Talk to doctors and patients about the importance of having your blood pressure checked.

Florida Hospital’s uninsured clinic is bursting at the seams. There are 45 million uninsured Americans in the United States, and because of the tremendous health care needs of the uninsured in Central Florida, Florida Hospital opened The Community After Hours Medical Clinic in 2003. But the need is so great that the clinic is now making changes to help even more people who have nowhere else to turn. Find out why so many people are using the clinic and how it could become a national model.

Flu shots now available to everyone. Flu season is just now peaking, and recommendations allowing only people considered high-risk to receive the flu shot have been lifted. Now anyone who wants a flu shot can get one. Find out why it is not too late to get your flu shot at any Florida Hospital Centra Care.

What’s in a name? The Florida Hospital Clinical and Research Labs (at the Florida Hospital Cancer Institute) is expanding its focus and changing its name. Now called the Florida Hospital Institute of Translational Research (FHITR), the FHITR is expanding its basic research programs to include cardiovascular medicine, neuroscience, and other areas. Find out what this means for local patients.