Many women don’t know that heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death for women in the United States. At the Karen Yontz Women's Cardiac Awareness Center located at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, health professional and community outreach teammates raise awareness and educate women with the tools and information they need to lead a more heart-healthy lifestyle.
 
The Center teammates promote wellness, advocate for early diagnosis, and aim to help decrease the incidence of heart disease in women. They care for the special hearts of women and empower them to play an active role in managing their own heart health.
 
In addition to promoting wellness, advocating for early diagnosis, and aiming to help decrease heart disease in women, community members can access a wide variety of informative, educational, and supportive tools and services at the center to help them make heart-healthy decisions – even if they haven’t talked with their doctor yet. These services include heart-health education, screenings, one-on-one consultation, weight-management assistance, and community classes on health topics.
 
In 2023, the Karen Yontz Women's Cardiac Awareness Center teammates completed 165 heart risk appraisals for community members, hosted 238 in-person and virtual education sessions for 213,003 attendees, and completed 30-day check-ins with 91 people who agreed to make personal changes to lower their risk for heart disease following the heart risk appraisal.