Dr. Jeffrey Lord, a specialist in weight-loss surgery techniques, will present "Weight Loss Surgery: Is It Right for You?" on Thursday, May 15, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Sacred Heart Hospital Conference Center in Pensacola.

The seminar is sponsored by Sacred Heart's Institute for Surgical Weight Loss.  Sacred Heart offers two types of weight loss surgery that use small incisions. The first is laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery, which involves a permanent rerouting of the digestive system that leaves patients with a small stomach pouch. The surgery creates a bypass that reroutes food around a portion of the small intestine.

The second, newer approach performed at Sacred Heart is adjustable gastric banding. Using a laparoscope, the surgeon places an inflatable band around the stomach, creating a small upper pouch at the top, with restricted passage to the rest of the stomach. This pouch fills quickly and creates a feeling of fullness.

Dr. Lord, who has advanced fellowship training in weight-loss surgery, serves as director of the Sacred Heart Institute for Surgical Weight Loss. Dr. Lord and staff provide comprehensive evaluation of clinically obese patients to determine their candidacy for these life-changing procedures as well as extensive patient/family education to create a foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

Reservations are required for this free seminar. To make a reservation or to obtain more information, please call (850) 416-1628 or visit www.sacred-heart.org.

Sacred Heart Hospital's SENIORSpirit! program will present a free seminar entitled "Change Your Life: How to Manage Diabetes, Cholesterol & Your Blood Pressure" on Tuesday, May 20 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Perdido Bay Community Center, 13660 Innerarity Point Road, in Perdido.

The seminar will be presented by Dr. Eric Hazbun, a board-certified family medicine physician with Sacred Heart Medical Group. The seminar will cover the symptoms of diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol, as well as ways to treat and manage these diseases.

As seating is limited, pre-registration is encouraged. To register, please call (850) 416-1620 or 1-877-416-1620.

Sacred Heart SENIORSpirit! is a free program for persons 55 and older.  Benefits include free screenings, seminars, special in-patient benefits such as a free daily guest meal ticket and newspaper delivery, a monthly calendar of events detailing all SENIORSpirit!  events, and a quarterly newsletter containing health and event information.

For more information, please call (850) 416-7000 or visit www.sacred-heart.org.

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Sacred Heart Foundation, the fundraising arm of Sacred Heart Health System, recently named Bambi Provost as its director of foundation affairs for the Pensacola office.

In her new role, Provost will be in charge of the day-to-day management of the Foundation in Pensacola as well as securing and handling major gifts and bequests.

Provost comes to the Foundation with over 17 years of healthcare marketing and development experience, in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings, including acute care, long term care, assisted living, physician practice, and mission camp marketing.

Prior to accepting this position, Provost was the director of Sacred Heart's Miracle Camp, a 40-acre camp in northern Escambia County for children and adults with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Provost has also served as the manager of guest and volunteer services at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, in addition to management positions at The Villas at Gulf Breeze, Specialty Center of Pensacola, and Fort Walton Beach Medical Center.

For more information on the services available at Sacred Heart, please call (850) 416-1600 or visit our website at www.sacred-heart.org.

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Sacred Heart Hospital's SeniorSpirit! program will present a free seminar on urinary incontinence therapy on Wednesday, May 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Dudley Greenhut Auditorium on Sacred Heart's main campus.

The seminar will be presented by Rita Gedney, a doctorate of physical therapist and incontinence therapist at Sacred Heart Rehabilitation on Davis Highway. The seminar will discuss the different types urinary incontinence as well as therapy programs to control or eliminate this condition without surgery or medication.

Urinary incontinence occurs when the bladder cannot hold urine and some or all of it leaks out. More than 13 million Americans experience loss of bladder control. However, women suffer from incontinence twice as often as men do.

Registration is required and seating is limited. To register, call (850) 416-1620 or 1-877-416-1620.

Sacred Heart SENIORSpirit is a free program for persons 55 and older.  Benefits include free screenings, seminars, special in-patient benefits such as three free guest meal tickets and newspaper delivery upon hospital admission, a monthly calendar of events detailing all SENIORSpirit events, and a quarterly newsletter containing health and event information.

For more information, please call (850) 416-7000 or visit www.sacred-heart.org.

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Sacred Heart Hospital's SeniorSpirit! program will present a free seminar on "Advances in Stroke Care" on Thursday, May 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Gulf Shores Senior Center, 300 E 16th Ave. in Gulf Shores.

The seminar will be presented by Dr. Terry Neill, a board-certified critical care neurologist and the medical director of the Sacred Heart Regional Stroke Center. The talk will teach attendees how to recognize the signs and symptoms of stroke as well as ways to prevent and treat stroke.

According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons over half a million Americans suffer a stroke each year. A stroke occurs when one of the blood vessels that carry oxygen to the brain either becomes clogged or bursts. This can result in muscle and speech impairment, brain damage, and death.

As seating is limited, pre-registration is encouraged. To register, please call (850) 416-1620 or 1-877-416-1620.

Sacred Heart SENIORSpirit is a free program for persons 55 and older.  Benefits include free screenings, seminars, special in-patient benefits such as a free daily guest meal ticket and newspaper delivery, a monthly calendar of events detailing all SENIORSpirit events, and a quarterly newsletter containing health and event information.

For more information, please call (850) 416-7000 or visit www.sacred-heart.org.

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PENSACOLA, FLORIDA -- On April 29, leaders from Sacred Heart Health System joined more than 60 colleagues from other Ascension Health hospitals around the country on a visit to Capitol Hill to advocate for health care coverage for all Americans.

Currently, an estimated 66,000 residents of Escambia County - one out of every five people -- lack health insurance. 

 "Every day, the doctors and nurses at Sacred Heart's hospitals in Pensacola and Walton County see first-hand the damage done to the health of children and adults who delay getting checkups and needed medical care - all because they lack health care insurance," said Patrick J. Madden, president and CEO of Sacred Heart Health System. "The American health care system itself needs to be healed. It is not working for tens of million of Americans, especially the poor and the 47 million people who are uninsured."

Sacred Heart Health System is a member of Ascension Health, the nation's largest Catholic and largest nonprofit healthcare system.  Consistent with a system wide commitment to achieve 100 percent access to healthcare and 100 percent coverage, Ascension Health is encouraging others to become involved and vocal in the national dialogue around healthcare reform.  Ascension Health believes that healthcare reform should be the nation's number one domestic policy priority.

"In this election year, we want Congress and the new president to commit to comprehensive changes in our health care system that achieve health care coverage for all Americans," Madden added. "Perhaps the goal of coverage for all must be reached in steps. But we need business and community leaders and individual citizens to push in the same direction - to build a new health care system that leaves no one behind."

During their visit to Capitol Hill, Sacred Heart President and CEO Patrick J. Madden and Sacred Heart's Chief Operating Officer Laura Kaiser met with U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, Jr., U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, and U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.

For more information about Ascension Health's efforts in support of access to healthcare for all Americans, visit www.ascensionhealth.org.

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PHOTO CAPTION:
Sacred Heart CEO Patrick J. Madden and Sacred Heart Chief Operating Officer Laura Kaiser meet with Congressman Jeff Miller and staff during a visit to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, April 29.