Little Red Hats Make a Big Impact at Raritan Bay Medical Center-Perth Amboy
February 13, 2018
Raritan Bay-Perth Amboy participates in the American Heart Association's Little Hats, Big Hearts program to empower new moms to live heart-healthy while raising awareness of congenital heart defects.
Hackensack Meridian Health Raritan Bay Medical Center-Perth Amboy is excited to be part of the American Heart Association's (AHA) Little Hats, Big Hearts program this year. The AHA is raising awareness about family heart health and congenital heart defects, the most common type of birth defect in the country, with support from The Children's Heart Foundation. This effort aims to empower new moms to take charge of their own wellbeing while creating a healthy lifestyle for the entire family.
As part of the Little Hats, Big Hearts program, babies born at Raritan Bay-Perth Amboy in February are receiving a beautiful handmade, knitted or crocheted red hat, as well as a kit full of heart-healthy information for mom and baby. Each mom is receiving tips on raising a healthy family, ways mom can take care of herself, heart-healthy recipes, and information on children's heart health. In New Jersey alone, 3,500 kits are being handed out across the state, including at other Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals. Raritan Bay-Perth Amboy is distributing nearly 100 kits through Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, February 7 to 14, through the end of the month.
Congenital heart defects are structural problems with the heart present at birth. They result when a mishap occurs during heart development soon after conception and often before the mother is aware that she is pregnant. Defects range in severity from simple problems, such as "holes" between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, such as complete absence of one or more chambers or valves. According to the AHA, it's possible to fix most congenital heart defects and there are an estimated 2 million CHD survivors in the U.S.
Raritan Bay-Perth Amboy and the AHA are spreading awareness to moms and families at the right time; February, American Heart Month, about heart health and a healthy family lifestyle.
ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH
Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 16 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers – Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; 11 community hospitals - Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin, Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, and Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick.Additionally, the network has more than 160 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, and urgent care and after-hours centers. Hackensack Meridian Health has 33,000 team members, and 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves.
The network's notable distinctions include having one of only five major academic medical centers in the nation to receive Healthgrades America's 50 Best Hospitals Award for five or more consecutive years, four hospitals among the top 10 in New Jersey, including Hackensack University Medical Center which is ranked No. 1 by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, recipient of the John M. Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality from The Joint Commission and the National Quality Forum, a six-time recipient of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For," one of the "20 Best Workplaces in Health Care" in the nation, and the number one "Best Place to Work for Women." Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies.
For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org.
The Little Hats, Big Hearts program started in Chicago in 2014 and has expanded to more than 40 states. Since 2016, nearly 5,800 hats have been distributed in the Garden State. For more information about the Little Hats, Big Heart program in NJ, please visit www.heart.org/littlehatsbighearts.