American Heart Association

Florida

A relentless force for longer, healthier lives in Florida.

Florida summer with children playing with bubbles

Green Tea Berry Banana Smoothie

A small handful of ingredients makes a big splash in this smoothie. The smoothie looks deep purple but you can definitely taste the green tea thanks to the strong brew.

Try this mouth-watering recipe today!

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Local Florida School led the nation in Kids Heart Challenge for fourth consecutive year

North Broward Preparatory School in Coconut Creek, FL has secured the top spot as the No. 1 Kids Heart Challenge fundraising school nationwide for the fourth year in a row! Students prioritized whole-body wellness and raised more than $154,000 in lifesaving funds for the American Heart Association. These donations support lifesaving research, strengthen our communities, and help kids with special hearts. Thank you, North Broward Prep, for 31 years of dedication to health and wellness through Kids Heart Challenge, raising more than $1.1 million.

Is your child’s school part of the fun?

Saving Lives Starts Here.

Since fiscal year 2021, the Tampa Bay Heart Association has empowered nearly a quarter of a million community members with lifesaving CPR skills—distributing over 23,000 CPR Anytime kits, 600+ CPR Anywhere training sets and more than 100 AEDs in just the last 18 months. And we’re just getting started!

Kemper Foundation: Donates CPR Education Resources to our friends in the City of Hialeah

Through a national relationship with Kemper Foundation, the City of Hialeah became one of three recipients across the country to work with the American Heart Association on improving emergency cardiac care. We will be working with the city on a number of strategies, including hands-only trainings for civilian staff of fire rescue, parks & recreation cardiac care plans and exploring EMS training pilots.

Learn more about the Nation of Lifesavers

In Your Community

The American Heart Association is committed to driving equitable health impact in Florida through five key priority areas: women, readiness, tobacco and vaping, patients, and healthy living. Equity is always at the center of our work, and it will continue to guide all that we do.

Through our focus on these key impact areas, and with collaboration among local organizations, sponsors, businesses, and others that serve the community, we are working to improve the health and well-being of Florida citizens while saving and improving countless lives.

Throughout the state of Florida, we’ve seen our community impact work grow, including efforts around creating avenues for greater access to care, expanding healthy food access and education, building a network of first responders through CPR kits in schools, supporting blood pressure screenings and education, and educating on the dangers of tobacco and vaping.

People are counting on us as never before. We at the American Heart Association, along with our supporters, will drive change, and we will be relentless.

For more than 40 years, Advocacy has had a mission-critical role in the American Heart Association's work. Our legislative and regulatory priorities help to mitigate risk factors and protect survivors in communities across the country. We support the enactment of evidence-based public policies that lead to longer, healthier lives.

Public policy advocacy is an essential strategy used by the Association to affect necessary and sustainable policy, system and environmental changes that help Florida citizens build healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Our efforts in Florida and its communities are focused on the following policy areas: Tobacco and Vaping, Access to Care, Medicaid Expansion, and Hypertension Prevention and Control.

Board Chairperson
Lawrence Franchetti
One Beat Medical

Board President
Farzanna S. Haffizulla, M.D., FACP FAMWA
Nova Southeastern University

Leadership Development Chair
Dr. Andrea Iglesias
Urban Health Partnerships

Members:

Sohail Azeem, MBA, MPH, FACHE
MedSys Health

Deborah Deioma Danto, MBA, LEED AP, CGC
Danto Builders

Melanie Evans, MHA, BSN, RN
Kindred Hospitals

Gregory Holness
Broward Sherriff’s Office Department of Fire Rescue

Francesco Iacona, MD
Schiller Americas Inc.

Amrit Kapai
Goldstein & McClintock LLLP

Andrew Koenig
CITY Furniture

Veronica McCloskey, MD
HCA Florida Kendall Hospital

Jenna Merlucci, FACHE
Broward Health

Dionne Polite
AARP

Ana Viamonte Ros, MD
Florida International University

Dr. Scott Ross
Cleveland Clinic Florida

Svetlana B. Shugh, MD, FAAP
Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Heart Institute

Isis Zambrana
Jackson Health System

Greater Miami - Ft. Lauderdale Event Chairs

Board Chairperson
Christina Clohecy
Newfold Digital

Board President
Amy Pollak, M.D.,
Mayo Clinic Florida

Members

Douglas M. Baer
Brooks Rehabilitation Center

Christopher Bernier
Duval County Public Schools

Daniel Davis
Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce

David Dunn
FIS

Patrick George
Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside

Patrick Green
UF Health

Whitney Meyer
Jacksonville Jaguars

Dr. Moez Limayem
University of North Florida

Ravi Pande
HCA Florida Memorial Hospital

Ravi Raheja
TriageLogic

Christine “Chris” Smith
Baptist Health

Kelli Tice
GuideWell

Grace Wooten
The Women's Board of Wolfson Children's Hospital

Jacksonville Event Chairs
2025 First Coast Heart Ball Chairperson
Reed Hammond
CEO
HCA Florida Memorial Hospital
2025 First Coast Go Red for Women Health Summit and Luncheon Chairperson
Kate Mays
Chief Operating Officer
CSI Companies

Board Chairperson
Jon Reitz
Walgreens

Board President
Linus Wodi, MD
AdventHealth

Immediate Past Chairperson
Jayne Willis
University of Central Florida

Immediate Past President
Ankur Garg, MD
Orlando Neurosurgery

Brittani Acuff
Crew Health

Michael Armbruster, PhD
Orange County Public Schools

Peggie Burgess
Center for Change

Jewel Calub
Orlando Regional Medical Center

Simon Choy
ADP

David Dominato
WKMG News 6

Vanessa Garner
CVS Health

Jake Kirchner
HCA Healthcare Florida

Dr. Swathy Kolli
Orlando Health Heart Institute

Peace Madueme, MD
Nemours Children’s Health

Giorgina Pinedo-Rolon
GIO Communications

Andrew Shunk
Orlando Health Heart & Vascular Institute

Samuel Stamps
C & S Companies

Orlando Event Chairpersons

Amenah Ebadi & Jennifer Nelson
Nemour's Children's Health
2025 Orlando Go Red for Women Chairperson

2024 Greater Orlando Heart Walk Chairpersons

Andrew Shunk & Kalei Walker
Orlando Health
2025 Orlando Heart Ball Chairpersons

Board Chairperson
John A. Domenico
Bank of America – Private Bank

Incoming Chairperson
Troy Rice
Florida Power & Light Company

Board President
Roger Duncan, MD
Palms West Hospital

Incoming President
Teresita Casanova, MD
Medical Specialists of the Palm Beaches

Members

Lee Alderton, Retired, Deloitte
Retired, Deloitte

Rebecca Doane, J.D., CPA
Doane & Doane, P.A.

Megan Filoon
TBC Corporation

Hilda Gonzalez
Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office

Heather Havericak
Delray Medical Center

Michele Jacobs
Economic Council of Palm Beach County

Trey Mahoney
UBS Financial Services

Dawn Nichols
NextEra Energy, Inc.

Grasford W. Smith
Akerman LLP

Fontaine Timmer, DNP
Palm Beach Atlantic University

Erica Whitfield
School District of Palm Beach County

Anita Wilborn, MD
Tenet Physician Services

Event Chairs

2025 Heart Walk Chairperson:
Ken West
HCA Florida JFK Hospital

71st Annual Palm Beach Heart Ball Chairmen
Susan and Bob Wright

2026 Go Red for Women Chairperson
Heather Havericak
Delray Medical Center

Board Chairperson
Tracy Duhaney
The Amboseli Group

Board President
Dr. Mazen Albaghdadi
NCH

Members

Pam Calligaro

Soren T. Christensen
Advanced Wealth Advisors

Adam Dejong
Lee Health

Dr. Eric Eason
Lee Health

Dr. Orlando Escarcega
Florida Heart Associates

Commander Jamie Cunningham
Collier County Sheriff

Jason Grabowski
B&I Contractors

Margo Kidd
Discovery Senior Living

Phil Loiacano
Transcend Capital Advisors

Southwest Florida Event Chairs

Dr. Shawn Felton
2025 Lee County Heart Walk Chair

Geoff Hunter
2025 Collier Heart Walk Chair

Jennifer Johnson and Sue Ryan
2026 Go Red for Women Chairpersons

Board Chairperson
Danny Persaud
MidFlorida Armored

Board President
Guilherme Oliveira, MD, MBA
Tampa General Hospital

Leadership Development Chair
Dr. Jim Thompson
Director
Interventional Cardiology
Johns Hopkins
All Children's Hospital

Health Equity Committee Chair
Dr. Kevin Sneed
Senior Associate Vice-President
USF Health
Dean and Professor
USF Health Taneja College of Pharmacy
University of South Florida

President-Elect
Debbie Rinde-Hoffman, MD, FACC, FACP, FHFSA
Tampa General Medical Group

Chair-Elect
Amanda Stevens
EVP, Chief Operating and Strategy Officer
Raymond James Bank

Members

Amer Z. Aldeen, MD, FACEP
Acute Care Solutions

Shantha Diaz
Retired, COO
Avalon Healthcare Solutions
Heart Health Champion

Alexander Johnson
Medical Director, Cardiology
Orlando Health

Marcos Murillo
Chief of Innovation & Strategic Planning
Hillsborough County Public Schools

Jason Newmyer
President/CEO
Advent Health Riverview

Sami Noujaim, PhD
University of South Florida

Lucila Ramiro, MD, FACP, MBA
Community Leader

Robert Sanchez, MD, FACC
West Florida Cardiology Network
HCA Physician Services Group

Alexandra Schaffrath
Ultimate Medical Academy

Stacie Schaible
WFLA-News Channel

Tampa Bay Event Chairs:

Rhea Law
President
University of South Florida
2025 Tampa Bay Heart Walk Co-Chair

Frank Morsani
Community Philanthropist
2025 Tampa Bay Heart Walk Co-Chair

Stacey Brandt
Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer
Tampa General Hospital
2025 Tampa Bay Go Red for Women Chair

Florida

Hands-Only CPR for Women and Girls on the First Coast

Improving access to nutritious foods in Naples, Florida

Connecting Riviera Beach residents with health resources

Green Tea Berry Banana Smoothie

Local Florida School led the nation in Kids Heart Challenge for fourth consecutive year

Saving Lives Starts Here.

Kemper Foundation: Donates CPR Education Resources to our friends in the City of Hialeah

Give Today to QUADRUPLE your Life Saving Impact

Events in Your Area

Marion County Heart Walk

Alachua County Heart Walk

Volusia-Flagler Heart Walk

Polk County Heart Walk

Palm Beach County Heart Walk

Tampa Bay Heart Walk

Northwest Florida Heart Walk

Lee County Heart Walk

Orlando Heart Walk

Miami Dade Heart Walk

Collier County Heart Walk

Southwest Florida Go Red for Women Luncheon

Orlando Go Red for Women Luncheon

Tampa Bay Go Red for Women: An Evening in Red

Southwest Florida Heart Ball

In Your Community

Greater Miami - Ft. Lauderdale Event Chairs

Jacksonville Event Chairs

Orlando Event Chairpersons

Event Chairs

Southwest Florida Event Chairs

Members

Tampa Bay Event Chairs:

Live Fierce City Champions

Contact Us

Greater Miami/Fort Lauderdale

Jacksonville (First Coast)

Orlando

Palm Beach

Southwest Florida

Tampa Bay

Florida Communities (Alachua County, Brevard County, Charlotte County, Marion County, Polk County, Suncoast, Volusia County)

North Florida Communities (Northwest Florida, Okaloosa County, Tallahassee)

Heart and Stroke News

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