Dignity Health | hello Healthy | Fall 2019

2 DignityHealth.org/Bakersfield | Fall 2019 The newest heart specialist at Dignity Health Medical Group in Bakersfield is a well-respected and highly skilled physician who has served the local community for nearly 30 years. He’s cardiologist Tommy Lee, MD. Dr. Lee joined the medical group last spring as part of an exciting partnership with Golden Empire Cardiology (GEC). In welcoming Dr. Lee and the GEC team of cardiac specialists—Armando Gonzalez, MD, and Micah Roberts, DO—hospital leaders noted that the partnership will help even more people access high-quality heart care and groundbreaking treatments. Using a collaborative approach, Dr. Lee, Dr. Gonzalez, and Dr. Roberts work together to ensure patients receive the most comprehensive and convenient cardiovascular care possible. Dr. Lee helped establish the Sarvanand Heart & Brain Center at Memorial Hospital in Bakersfield. And he helped usher in new minimally invasive cardiac procedures, like TAVR (transcatheter aortic valve replacement) and the WATCHMAN device implant. Dr. Lee completed his medical training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City and at Stanford University. He is the medical director of the cardiac catheterization lab at Dignity Health – Memorial Hospital. Welcome Tommy Lee, MD, cardiologist Call today To make an appointment with one of the specialists at Golden Empire Cardiology, call 661.321.3161 . Go Red Por Tu Corazón! Wellness event to promote Latina heart health in Kern County Go Red Por Tu Corazón, sponsored by Dignity Health Oct. 6, 1:30 to 4 p.m. St. Francis of Assisi Parish Youth Center, 900 H St. in Bakersfield Join us for: Heart-healthy cooking demonstrations. Health screenings. Fitness fun. Free child care during the event. Refreshments. Vendors. Prize drawings. Free, fun, and helpful education Heart disease is a leading killer of all women in the U.S., but Latinas are especially vulnerable. “Latinas tend to develop heart disease about 10 years earlier than non-Latina women,” says Alma Navarrete, a board member of the American Heart Association (AHA) in Kern County. And yet many people aren’t aware of this threat to Latina women. That’s one reason Dignity Health – Mercy and Memorial Hospitals have joined with the AHA to revive a Go Red Por Tu Corazón wellness event in Kern County. The bilingual initiative is similar to the Go Red For Women movement. “It celebrates the energy, the passion, and the power of Latinas to come together and work toward ending heart disease and stroke,” Navarrete says. “Thanks to Dignity Health’s Life is Why: Kern County sponsorship, we are able to offer this completely free to the community,” Navarrete says. So come on out and help us celebrate heart and brain health in the Latina community! “With this event, we can inspire lifestyle changes as simple as cooking traditional food with healthier ingredients,” Navarrete says.