Beebe’s Mended Hearts celebrates 10 years

October 2016 marks the 10th year that Mended Hearts Chapter 344 of Lewes has been a support group dedicated to inspiring and improving the quality of life for heart patients and their families by providing hope, help and healing.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of Americans, totaling more than 600,000 deaths annually. This disease claims more lives each year than cancer, respiratory diseases and accidents combined.

Mended Hearts is a national and community-based nonprofit organization that offers the gift of hope to heart disease patients, their families and caregivers. As the largest cardiovascular peer-to-peer support network in the world, Mended Hearts has been extending this support for over 65 years, visiting more than 200,000 patients each year.

Locally, Mended Hearts trains accredited members and supports Beebe hospital as volunteers, where they can be found escorting heart patients throughout Beebe's Medical Center in Lewes for pre-admission testing prior to their scheduled heart procedure. They also can be found making daily visits to patients who have recently undergone heart surgery and are recovering. Other Mended Hearts members help recovering heart patients in Beebe's Cardiac Rehabilitation location at the Rehoboth Beach Health Campus.

"Mended Heart members are like the people they serve. They also are heart patients serving others going through what they went through themselves," said John Marchetti, organizer of the local chapter. "This allows them to draw on their own personal experiences as they escort, visit, educate, reassure and inspire others."

Healthcare professionals continually praise the patient-to-patient connection as they witness firsthand the benefits to their patients' overall recovery.

Mended Hearts members also provide education, support and encouragement to all types of heart patients and their families. The local chapter helps patients, their families and caregivers learn and understand more about their heart and learn to lead productive and healthy lives through monthly group meetings. Members listen and share their experiences and volunteer to talk to patients about the benefits of lifestyle changes, depression and recovery.

During the 10-year existence of Beebe's Mended Hearts Chapter they have escorted 1,452 patients for pre-admission testing and visited 4,795 hospital patients.

Chapter 344 meets monthly. For more information, call Barbara Maloney at 302-827-4285 or Joe Prematta at 301-988-1012 or email johnandangel@msn.com.