We are heart patients and caregivers of all ages who volunteer to provide support, encouragement, and hope to individuals and families from the moment of a heart disease diagnosis through treatment, recovery, and beyond. Our work would not be possible without the partnership and support of PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Cardiovascular Services, whose collaboration make it possible for us to serve heart patients and their families throughout their healthcare journey.

Leading with Heart - a message from our President, Dianna Konrad

As We Celebrate Our 14th Year, Hope and Support are in the Air

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We have made thousands of patient and caregiver visits since we became a Mended Hearts

chapter in 2012, providing support and hope to many. We weathered the ups and downs in

the number of both members and hospital volunteers. We survived Covid and with the

support of Cardiovascular Services developed a plan to regrow our hospital volunteer

team.  We are now on track to make 3,000 patient and caregiver visits this year. To make

things perfect, we were named The Mended Hearts, Inc (MHI), National Chapter of the Year,

winning the prestigious President’s Cup Award.

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​​MHI’s new CEO, Natalie Crawford, came from Atlanta to our October meeting. She talked about her plans for MHI and presented us with the President’s Cup Award. After the meeting, she and our board members also shared ideas over lunch.

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Another highlight of our meeting was our guest speaker, Jerry Marschke, the Executive Director of Cardiovascular Services. With detailed graphics Jerry showed us the status of the new Peter Paulson Pavillion and the remodeling of the cardiology offices.

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Most importantly, Jerry detailed their plan to increase the number of cardiology caregivers. For general cardiology the plan is for three new physicians, a new PA-C and a new ARNP. Electrophysiology will add an ARNP and vascular surgery will add a fourth surgeon. Jerry acknowledged the difficulty of getting timely medical appointments. He talked about the lack of medical professionals nationally. But he said their goal is to continue to reduce the time for patient appointments.

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If you were at our meeting, I hope you felt the pride that filled our meeting. And whether you are a heart patient or their family, I hope you felt the hope. We are always here to support you.