Minnesota Department of Health

News Release

July 9, 2007

Contact information

Minnesota Department of Health receives $963,000 from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to address heart disease and stroke
Heart disease and stroke are second and third leading causes of death in Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Health today announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the department will receive $963,000 to address heart disease and stroke in Minnesota. The funding, which begins this month, may be renewed annually for the next five years.

“Heart disease and stroke are two of the three leading causes of death in our state,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dianne Mandernach. “This funding will help us continue our efforts to prevent these conditions and to improve the lives of those affected by them.”

Heart disease and stroke accounted for 28 percent of all deaths in Minnesota in 2005, with 7,915 resulting from heart disease, and 2,372 from stroke. Also in 2005, more than 73,000 hospitalizations for heart disease or stroke resulted in hospital costs of more than $2.1 billion. The CDC funding will be used to further develop the work of the state’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Unit and to establish a new Minnesota stroke registry.

With $400,000, the Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Unit of MDH will:

• Implement heart disease and stroke wellness programs in businesses statewide
• Develop plans for a statewide acute stroke transport and treatment system
• Develop and implement policies in health systems for educating and treating patients on blood pressure and cholesterol control and management
• Develop, maintain, and expand partnerships – including coordinating the Minnesota Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Steering Committee and the Minnesota Stroke Partnership
• Collect and report data for heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and cholesterol
• Evaluate program activities

The remaining $563,000 will help establish the state’s first stroke registry, designed to improve quality of care for acute stroke patients in Minnesota hospitals. The funds will be used to:

• Collect data on quality of care provided to patients treated at hospitals with suspected stroke
• Coordinate a Minnesota Stroke Registry Advisory Committee
• Develop and implement quality improvement interventions for hospitals statewide
• Evaluate progress in stroke care as a result of quality improvements
  

“We’re grateful to the CDC for providing this funding to address heart disease and stroke in Minnesota,” Mandernach said. “This major investment will help us tackle our second and third leading causes of death so that we can remain one of the healthiest states in the nation.”

-MDH-

For more information, contact:

John Stieger
MDH Communications
(651) 201-4998

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