Author: OFChamber

February is American Heart Month, and HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital and Prevea Health are committed to raising awareness about the symptoms of heart attacks.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, someone has a heart attack every 40 seconds in the United States. If you notice symptoms of a heart attack in yourself of someone else, call 9-1-1 immediately. The chances of survival are greater the sooner emergency treatment begins.

The five major symptoms of a heart attack for men and women include:

• Pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck or back
• Feeling weak, light-headed or faint
• Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back
• Pain or discomfort in arms or shoulders
• Shortness of breath, with or without chest comfort

In addition to these symptoms, women are more likely to experience:

• Unusual or unexplained tiredness
• Nausau or vomiting

How cold weather may play a role:
Cold weather does not increase the risk of heart attack for the average healthy person, but it can be problematic for someone with underlying heart disease. Those with underlying heart disease may already have narrowing of the blood vessels. Cold weather, especially sub-zero temperatures, can cause the vessels to constrict even further, limiting blood flow to vital organs and potentially resulting in a heart attack.

For more information about heart attack and heart disease, please visit the “Heart Care” resources section of www.prevea.com. A podcast episode featuring Prevea interventional cardiologist, Dr. Todd Fergus, and his experiences in caring for those affected by heart attack, is also available now on Prevea Health’s new podcast, Plug In to Health on Apple, Spotify and www.prevea.com/podcast. Look for “Heart Attack: What You Need to Know.”

Children with complex dental needs and who are uninsured or underinsured will now have greater access to care thanks to a new collaboration between HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls and the Brown County-based Oral Health Partnership (OHP).

Oral Health Partnership, a nonprofit founded in Green Bay in 2005, provides underserved children living in Brown County and surrounding counties access to preventive, restorative and emergency dental services at no cost. It offers a school-based dental care program, three clinic locations throughout Green Bay, and partners with three Green Bay hospitals – including HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center – to provide treatment for complex dental conditions that require an operating room setting.

“This year, OHP is on track to serve more than 10,000 children and accommodate more than 20,000 dental appointments,” said Michael Schwartz, Executive Director at OHP. “The addition of HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital to our partnership allows us to treat more children in need of hospital-based care. We are immensely grateful for their partnership, as well as the continued partnership of HSHS St. Vincent and St. Mary’s.”

In early 2018, the OHP wait list for those in need of hospital-based dental care was at more than 250 children. The recent addition of HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital as an OHP partner has helped to reduce the current waiting list to approximately 50 children.

“Our hospital’s vision is to provide health, healing and hope to all we serve, and we are proud to join our sister-hospitals in Green Bay to assist the OHP in providing a service that is greatly needed for underserved children,” said Chris Brabant, President and CEO at HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital. “Our partnership with OHP also means that children who live in our rural, northern communities and in need of this type of care can now access it closer to home.”

As an OHP partner, HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital provides operating room space and the assistance of its surgical staff to OHP physicians at no cost to OHP or the patient. The nonprofit hospital also obtained a grant from Delta Dental of Wisconsin to purchase the surgical instruments for OHP physicians to perform the necessary procedures. Procedures may include the treatment of multiple cavities in young children, abscessed teeth and/or teeth extraction.

“In some cases, these complex dental conditions can be life-threatening, and that is why increasing access to this type of care is so important,” said Schwartz.

HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital also provides the services of Child Life Specialists for each child that comes to the hospital to have a dental procedure. Child Life Specialists are specially trained in helping put children who may be anxious about their procedure at ease.

Oral Health Partnership serves children ages 0 to 19. Those interested in learning more can call (920) 965-0831 or visit www.smilegb.org. Underinsured or uninsured adults in need of dental care may contact the N.E.W. Dental Clinic at (920) 272-9300.

Prevea Health is pleased to announce a four-year contract extension with professional athlete, Aaron Rodgers, to support its health and wellness initiatives throughout eastern and western Wisconsin. Prevea (pronouncer: prev’AY-uh) and Rodgers began their official partnership in 2012.

“This relationship goes far beyond the idea of a celebrity serving as a spokesperson,” said Ashok Rai, MD, President and CEO, Prevea Health. “As one of the most respected athletes in the country, Aaron is truly passionate about improving the health and wellness of our communities. His commitment to our message and his ability to add his own personal twist comes from his own passion of improving the health and wellness of Wisconsin. We are proud to call him a member of the Prevea family.”

Most recently, Prevea and Rodgers launched an advertising campaign called Senses focusing on what healthy looks like, feels like and sounds like – recognizing that it looks, feels and sounds different to each person. In the commercials, Rodgers shares openly how these thoughts, with Prevea, can help people stay in tune with their health and happiness.

“When I think about my legacy and what I want to be remembered for, I want to know that at the end of the day I made an impact on the communities that have meant so much to me,” said Rodgers. “When I think about the past several years and my partnership with Prevea, I am able to look back at all the things we did together that made a difference to people’s health and wellness. We’ve been able to do some pretty incredible things and I look forward to continuing to build on that.”

Click on the following hyperlinks to watch Rodgers’ latest commercials with Prevea. These may be used for b-roll purposes, courtesy of Prevea Health:
What Healthy Looks Like
What Healthy Feels Like
What Healthy Sounds Like

The commercials air in the Green Bay, Wis. and La Crosse/Eau Claire, Wis. television markets.