HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation strengthen collaboration with the American Heart Association to advance cardiovascular and stroke care, clinical research and education

We are proud to announce that HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation today announced we will continue our collaboration with the American Heart Association on their Getting to the Heart of Stroke™ initiative through $3.9 million in funding and support. This builds upon the collaboration announced in 2022 focused on deepening the heart-brain connection to help treat, beat and prevent stroke. Together, the American Heart Association, HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation are working to foster cardiovascular health, prevent stroke and improve patient outcomes by increasing cardiology and neurology collaboration, deploying evidence-based education and interventions, and identifying and minimizing health disparities.

With support from the HCA Healthcare Foundation, Getting to the Heart of Stroke™ has reached over 200 million individuals with evidence-informed education on AFib and stroke risk, while expanding outreach to more than 160 community organizations, including clinics, schools, food pantries and libraries, and implementing intervention programs focused on controlling blood pressure, improving nutrition security and maternal health. Additional engagement from HCA Healthcare, including expertise from the company’s healthcare thought leaders, supported the Association in developing accredited education programming for healthcare professionals, along with a specific learning collaborative with 10 HCA Healthcare facilities focused on continuously improving quality of care.

Since 2022, the participating Getting to the Heart of Stroke™ hospitals significantly improved identification of the cause of stroke by 33%, through care team collaboration, best practice-sharing and increased utilization of evidence-based diagnostic testing. These and other findings have been presented at the American Heart Association’s national meetings, such as Scientific Sessions and the International Stroke Conference.

“We are proud to continue our work with the American Heart Association and Getting to the Heart of Stroke™,” said Joanne Pulles, vice president of community engagement at HCA Healthcare and president of the HCA Healthcare Foundation. “The past three years have been deeply meaningful, and we are committed to helping improve heart and brain health outcomes through our combined resources and expertise.”

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In the fourth year of the initiative, the American Heart Association will focus on expanding and deepening community partnerships to deliver meaningful health interventions in trusted community settings and empowering the public on how to manage their stroke and AFib risk with tools and resources. HCA Healthcare will expand our quality improvement efforts to all of our 43 comprehensive stroke centers, utilizing research to identify and share clinical and operational best practices with an added focus on preventing stroke-related disability.

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“With continued support for both clinical innovation and community health, we can reach more people with the tools and knowledge to reduce stroke risk and improve early detection, to help ensure longer, healthier lives,” said Mitchell S.V. Elkind, M.D., M.S., chief science officer, brain health and stroke, at the American Heart Association. “Continuing this initiative means we can deepen our ability to address the heart-brain connection, an essential but often overlooked factor in stroke prevention and recovery.”