February is Heart Month

During February we'll keep this page updated with information about activities focused on improving and learning more about heart health, while inspiring others to do the same. See below for important dates, and come back to this website often throughout the month.

Welcome to Heart Month 2024

Go Red

We kicked off Heart Month on Feb. 2, with Go Red for Women’s National Wear Red Day. Many joined in the fun by snapping photos of themselves and colleagues wearing red, then submitted their best shots for our video below.

Go Red video: See the fun!

UT System Living Well Heart Walk

On Feb. 9, we joined fellow UT System institutions virtually for the fifth annual UT System Living Well Heart Walk. UTSW folks got outside and walked 10 minutes at 10 a.m. Many of us wore red and posted pictures using the hashtag #utheartwalk. Check out photos of all the fun on the UT Benefits Facebook page.

Step-a-Thon results

We invited you to participate in the UT Southwestern Step-a-Thon, and participate you did! Over the President's Day holiday weekend, our participants amassed a collective total of 877,418 steps. Thank you and a big "way to go!" to all the participants.

Congratulations to our three top steppers

• Thelma Morgan, a Medical Transcriptionist for Clinical Laboratory Services (217,292 steps)
• Lavanya Vumma, a student intern in the Graduate School (115,441 steps)
• Gladys Paredes, a Surgical Services nurse at CUH (77,073 steps)

The three winners will have the opportunity to have lunch with Jonathan Efron, M.D., our EVP for Health System Affairs.

Get your heart pumping on the Katy Trail

Check out the UTSW-sponsored Fitness Center located on the south end of the Katy Trail near Victory Overlook. It's a great way to celebrate Heart Month!

Heart Month Employee Spotlights

As part of our ongoing coverage of Heart Month, we’ll be highlighting outstanding employees on our cardiovascular care teams.

Ngoc Van Cantrell

Van Cantrell's health care journey began 30 years ago after she lost her two best friends from complications of heart disease. They were both in their 40s.

“That’s when I was drawn to cardiovascular health,” she said. “Their loss compelled me to learn more about heart health and preventive care.”

She soon joined the health and safety services division at the American Red Cross. Now, as Director of Operations for Cardiovascular Services, she provides operational support to our providers and staff.

Van comes to work knowing that her role contributes to our patients’ progress and overall health journey. And having the opportunity to make a difference in their heart health is what drives her everyday mission at UT Southwestern.

These experiences remind Van to take care of her own heart as well.

“No matter how tired I am, I start or end my day on my treadmill or bike,” she says. “It is a great way to relieve stress and keeps my heart healthy. I always close out my workout with a 10-minute meditation to keep my heart and mind grounded.”

Deshonna Taylor

Deshonna Taylor, D.N.P., RN, CCRN, began her journey in health care 36 years ago as a medical-surgical nurse with a specialty in critical care. Her focus on cardiovascular care, however, started much earlier in life, as her cousin was born with cardiac anomalies.

This had a profound effect on her family, and it was one of a series of pivotal moments in Dr. Taylor’s career path and ignited her passion for patient care.

The other pivotal moment happened in 1996, when she became a mother to quintuplets and was named an ambassador for the March of Dimes.

“This gave my husband and me the opportunity to speak with others about the importance of prenatal care for healthy development of organs as well as the risk of cardiac anomalies,” Dr. Taylor says.

Now, as Director of Nursing for Heart, Lung, and Vascular Services, she oversees five units at Clements University Hospital. In this position, she works closely with the nursing managers and other staff to provide the tools and training needed to care for cardiology and pulmonary patients.

“Every day is different,” she says. “Health care is changing so much and so quickly. We have patients who live normal, productive lives even when it seemed as though things might not have had a positive outcome. It gives me encouragement to know I am a part of that.”

Here’s to Dr. Taylor and her teammates in UT Southwestern’s cardiovascular program, who continue to make the difference of a lifetime in our patients’ heart health.

Abraham Luna

Abraham Luna, a scheduler of cardiac cath procedures, began his career in health care 11 years ago. “The heart is the most important organ in the body, so naturally I wanted to know how to keep it healthy,” he says of how cardiovascular care sparked his interest in health care.

As an integral player on the cardiovascular team, Abraham also takes it upon himself to stay active and maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle. “I like to take my dogs for a walk every day, and I participate in adult softball leagues.”

When it comes to his motivation for bringing his best self to the workplace, Abraham says, “I want our patients’ experience to be a good one, whether it’s over the phone or in-person.”

This positive mindset has earned Abraham UTSW’s coveted Meritorious Service Award, as well as a role in the Cardiac Rehab program.

Hedgy MacDonald

Alistair “Hedgy” MacDonald, Manager of Inventory Control, started his medical career in 1999 as a paramedic in an emergency room at another DFW-area hospital. While he was working a night shift, a patient came in having a heart attack, specifically a myocardial infarction.

After the patient was stabilized, he was prepped for the call team and transported to the catheterization lab. Once they got there, the cath team asked Hedgy to stay and help.

“This was a very sick patient, he had a sense of impending doom and kept saying he was not going to make it,” he recalled. “As I watched, I saw the blocked vessel being opened and a stent placed. The immediate relief that the patient felt was an amazing sight to see.”

After the patient had recovered, Hedgy went to the ICU to visit the patient, who was sitting up like a new person, visiting with his loved ones.

“The look on his face and the happiness he showed was overwhelming,” Hedgy said. “That was when I knew I had to work in the cath lab.”

And so he did, scrubbing in with the cardiologists and monitoring cases. He has since crossed over to the inventory side, ordering supplies for operations. “I have been doing inventory now for about 14 years, but I really do love doing tableside patient care,” he said.

“Knowing that you can make a difference in someone’s life, even if it’s in the background, is rewarding in itself,” Hedgy says of his job at UT Southwestern, which he joined in 2016. “Knowing that we have the supplies needed every day, as well as working with the doctors to research and obtain special supplies, gives me a sense of fulfillment.”