Two Buffalo, N.Y.-based healthcare organizations, Erie County Medical Center and Kaleida Health, agreed to team up with Niagara Falls (N.Y.) Medical Center on the "Full Circle Heart Care" project to improve cardiac care, especially for underserved populations in Niagara County, according to the Niagara Gazette.
As part of the collaboration, ECMC will transfer the license of one of its three cardiac catheterization labs to Kaleida Health, which will in turn establish a cardiac catheterization lab at Memorial's Heart Center of Niagara. The three-way collaboration will help make cardiac services available to underserved populations in Niagara County, which has some of the highest rates of cardiovascular mortality in the country.
About one in three residents of Niagara County die from heart disease and the rate is 23 percent higher for African Americans, according to the report.
The collaboration will use evidence-based strategies and team-based care management to improve cardiac care, including increased screenings for cholesterol, blood pressure and smoking. It will also focus on providing more patient education opportunities through the CDC's Million Hearts campaign and other materials and programs, according to the report.
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