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Kickoff Your GAMEPLAN for a Healthy Heart

Heart disease continues to be a leading cause of death in the U.S. But there is hope. And that hope is the Heart & Vascular Hospital at HackensackUMC where we go beyond traditional thinking and push medicine further than ever before so your heart can beat healthier than ever before. It's a place where we prove every day that "impossible is just an opinion" and deliver cardiac care that's a beat beyond all other hospitals. For your copy of Phil Simms' GAMEPLAN for a Healthy Heart, please click here.

Welcome Letter from Dr. Joseph E. Parrillo

Dr. Parrillo

Dear Friends and Supporters:

Hello - and thank you for visiting the HackensackUMC Foundation website.

Our senior citizens are precious. They are the guests of honor at a golden anniversary, a 90th birthday celebration or a grandchild's graduation. Time is what TAVR offers our patients.

HackensackUMC is a leader in the performance of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), a revolutionary procedure to replace a severely narrowed aortic valve using a catheter approach that avoids open heart surgery. Until now, elderly patients with complex medical conditions were often ineligible for heart surgery. Without treatment, half of these patients might die within one year. With an aging population and so much to live for, HackensackUMC is dedicated to the performance of successful TAVR procedures.

During my first visit to the medical center, I was impressed by HackensackUMC's great history of quality medical care along with the promise and opportunity to build a world class destination for cardiovascular care. In assuming my role as Chairman of the Heart and Vascular Hospital, I am mindful of the facts: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most common cause of death in the United States. CVD claims more than 800 thousand lives each year. Currently, 82 million Americans are living with some form of CVD.

While I am challenged by the facts, I am also heartened by the strategies we have put in place. There is a great need in northern New Jersey for a world-class CVD program that can provide the entire spectrum of cardiovascular care from preventive cardiology to mechanical cardiac assist devices and heart transplantation. We are developing a world-class academic medical center that provides cutting edge treatments, teaches the next generation of health professionals, and investigates the frontiers of medical research to identify new treatments. Please read on to learn more about where we are today and, with your help, where we plan to be tomorrow.

Please join A Beat Beyond, the Campaign for the Heart & Vascular Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center, and be part of this extraordinary effort to create a world-class, pacesetting home for advanced cardiac care.

From my heart to yours, thank you for supporting our mission to save and enhance lives.

Sincerely,

Joseph E. Parrillo, MD
Chairman, Heart and Vascular Hospital
Professor of Medicine - UMDNJ
Hackensack University Medical Center

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HackensackUMC Heart and Vascular Hospital:
Today and Tomorrow

Groundbreaking Cardiac Surgery:

• HackensackUMC is a leader in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), by both vascular and thoracic approaches. A revolutionary procedure to replace a severely narrowed aortic valve using a catheter approach that avoids open heart surgery, TAVR procedures are performed through a collaborative effort in our hybrid operating room.
• HackensackUMC is also a leader in the fenestrated stent approach to addressing abdominal aortic aneurysms. An image of the aorta is captured in a CT scan and the fenestrated stent is then customized, based on that image, to fit, treat and cure each individual patient.

Networking: We are building a network of heart and vascular physicians as a multi-disciplinary team as well as a network of hospitals. HackensackUMC serves as the flagship facility and as the hub of a major cardiovascular referral center for our affiliates. We continue to enhance our collaborations and affiliations to fully integrate the physician network and the hospital network to provide optimal care to our patients and citizens.

Research and Academics: From the test tube to the bedside, we apply the latest knowledge acquired in the lab to the practical care of our patients. Our world class physicians are equipped with state of the art facilities and cutting edge research that translates to new innovations in cardiovascular care. Our academic program is strengthened through prominent affiliations.

Programs: We are expanding our prevention, chest pain, and critical care programs. With a focus on our heart failure program, the most rapidly growing area of cardiovascular disease, we are also expanding our cardiac assist device (mechanical heart) program and developing a heart transplant program.

Cardiac Arrhythmia Management is performed by Cardiac Electrophysiologists using the most cutting edge technology including the Stereotaxis method that allows precise placement of catheters to cure serious rhythm disturbances.