Mended Hearts Celebrates 17th Annual Dinner Dance

Feb. 11, 2013 - The Scranton-area chapter of Mended Hearts Inc. will host its 17th annual dinner dance on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Genetti Manor in Dickson City.

Mended Hearts is a nonprofit organization with 400 national chapters. The local chapters partner with hospitals and rehabilitation clinics to provide support and inspire hope in heart disease patients and their families.

Because Mended Hearts is comprised of the kinds of people it serves — heart patients, their families, and others impacted by heart disease — its members draw on personal experience as they help others understand that there can be a rich, rewarding life after heart disease.

Members listen, share their experiences, learn from health care professionals and talk to other heart patients about what they may face including lifestyle changes, depression, recovery and treatment.

At Regional Hospital of Scranton, Mended Hearts volunteers make visits to patients, family members and caregivers in hospitals, online and by phone.

The annual dinner dance is a celebration of life, says Chapter 276 president Jack Walsh, a 17-year survivor of heart disease. “It’s great to be alive, to help others who are going through the same things I lived through,” he says.

Special guest speaker at the dinner dance will be Lear Von Koch, MD, noted heart surgeon, and chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Regional Hospital of Scranton.

The public is invited to attend. Call 570.340.4842 to reserve your place. Advance tickets are $20. There will be a cash bar and hors d’oeuvers will be served from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Dance music will be provided by Kris Sheridan.

From left, Regional Hospital of Scranton CEO Brooks Turkel; Dr. Lear Von Koch, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Regional Hospital of Scranton; and Mended Hearts president Jack Walsh.