HCA Midwest Health sets Kansas City Heart Walk fundraising record, raising $100,000

HCA Midwest Health, Kansas City's largest healthcare provider, proudly announces that the 2024 Kansas City Heart Walk drew nearly 300 company walkers and 46 teams, raising more than $100,000 for lifesaving research and advocacy. The Heart Walk is the American Heart Association’s largest fundraising initiative. It engages companies to improve the health and well-being of employees while driving efforts to fight against cardiovascular diseases, the number one killer in Kansas City. Belton Regional Medical Center CEO Todd Krass spearheaded regional efforts by rallying fellow corporate leaders and their employees to join the 2024 Heart Walk.

"HCA Midwest Health is proud to participate and support in the effort to not only raise critical funds but to get our organization and community involved in the Heart Walk and all that it represents,” said HCA Midwest Health President Keith Zimmerman. “This year’s event was a tremendous success, and we hope everyone who participated recognizes that together, we helped move the needle toward a world of longer, healthier lives."

“The American Heart Association is celebrating 100 years of lifesaving work, and to have HCA Midwest Health raise more than $100,000 for the 2024 Kansas City Heart Walk is an incredible achievement,” said Laura Lopez, Executive Director, of the American Heart Association in Kansas. “These critical funds will make a significant impact on the health of Kansas City. We are grateful for HCA Midwest Health’s passion for our cause – not just during the Heart Walk, but year-round.”

“Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone at any time, and bystanders trained, confident and ready to perform CPR can help save lives in Kansas City,” said Krass. “Through fundraising, community education and corporate engagement, the Heart Walk enhances CPR training accessibility, bolsters bystander preparedness, increases funding for vital research, and ultimately, saves lives. Training is the first step towards creating a community of lifesavers. The readiness of our community to know CPR could be the difference between life and death of someone we know and love.”

In 2022, HCA Healthcare and the American Heart Association announced a new initiative, Getting to the Heart of Stroke™, developed in conjunction with and supported through $15 million in total funding from HCA Healthcare and the HCA Healthcare Foundation. The initiative focuses on preventing, treating and beating stroke by providing nationwide consumer and healthcare professional education, deepening collaboration between neurology and cardiology, and equitably empowering communities about stroke risk to improve health outcomes.