Cincinnati - The Christ Hospital is hosting tours of the AstraZeneca Heart FX Pod at the Xavier Cintas Center on July 20 from 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. and July 21 from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Media are invited to tour the Heart FX Pod any time during these days.

The pod is touring the country offering physicians and medical personnel the opportunity to experience a five and a half minute multi-sensory simulation of the impact of heart failure on daily activity from a patient perspective. By stepping into the Heart FX Pod, a healthy person can experience the symptoms - including shortness of breath and fatigue - that patients with heart failure may feel.

"Heart failure is a near epidemic in the United States and many people are not aware that they are living with the condition," said Santosh G. Menon, M.D., associate medical director, congestive heart failure program at The Christ Hospital. "The Christ Hospital's goal is to educate the public about congestive heart failure and to positively improve patient outcomes."

The American Heart Association estimates that nearly five million Americans are currently living with heart failure, and more than half a million new cases are diagnosed each year. Heart failure, though manageable, is a serious, and often progressive condition that may lead to a fatal outcome. Therefore, it is important that physicians and patients work closely together to determine the best regimen for managing the condition on an individual basis.

The Christ Hospital is currently building the region's first center specifically dedicated to caring for patients who suffer from congestive heart failure. The Carl H. & Edyth Lindner Heart Failure Treatment Center will be a 40-bed unit located on the seventh floor of the hospital. The center will offer state-of-the-art care for heart failure patients; increase the cost-effectiveness of caring for heart failure patients; reduce the length of stay for patients; decrease readmissions to the hospital for heart failure and provide a community resource for teaching, education, and research for heart failure.

The Christ Hospital was ranked 21 out of 5,189 for heart care and heart surgery hospitals in the country evaluated by U.S.News & World Report (July 2006). It was the only heart program in the region recognized and one of only seven in all of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

The Christ Hospital is part of the Health Alliance, an integrated health care delivery system that also includes The University Hospital, The St. Luke Hospitals, The Jewish Hospital, The Fort Hamilton Hospital, Drake Center, West Chester Medical Center and the physicians of Alliance Primary Care. To view other Health Alliance news releases, go to www.health-alliance.com/pressroom .

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