BRG, YMCA Team Up for Heart Screenings at Capital Area Locations

BATON ROUGE, La. – Baton Rouge General (BRG) and YMCA of the Capital Area have teamed up to bring no-cost heart screening events to the community starting this month. Doctors will perform a physical exam to listen to sounds from the heart, lungs and other organs, plus a screening ultrasound to see how your heart is beating and pumping blood. Anyone aged 60 and older can be screened.

Heart murmurs are one of the major symptoms of aortic valve disease, but many people don’t even know they have a murmur. Through his non-profit, Heart Sense, BRG cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Antoine Keller has set out to determine how prevalent heart murmurs are in the Baton Rouge community and surrounding areas.

Interested participants can reserve a spot for the following dates in advance by texting “heart” to 225-334-8802. (Walk-ups are welcome, too.)

May 24, 8-11 a.m.: ExxonMobil YMCA

June 16, 8-11 a.m.: Paula G. Manship YMCA

June 21, 8-11 a.m.: A.C. Lewis YMCA

“Gone unchecked, a heart murmur could turn out to be something serious like aortic valve disease, in which patients may experience a slew of symptoms like chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, or the inability to do tasks that were once simple like walking or mowing the yard,” said Dr. Keller. “Some people may attribute these symptoms to just getting older, but often they’re a sign of repairable heart disease.”

For more information, visit heart-sense.org.

About Baton Rouge General Medical Center
Baton Rouge General Medical Center is the area’s first community hospital with over 600 licensed beds between three campuses. Baton Rouge General opened its doors in 1900, and has provided the Greater Baton Rouge community with high-quality healthcare for generations. An accredited teaching hospital since 1991, Baton Rouge General is affiliated with several medical school programs, and offers other medical education programs, including a School of Nursing, School of Radiologic Technology, Family Medicine Residency Program, Internal Medicine Residency Program, and Sports Medicine Fellowship Program. For more information, visit BRGeneral.org, find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/BatonRougeGeneral and follow us on Twitter @BRGeneral and Instagram @batonrougegeneral.

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