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For Immediate Release

For more information, contact:
Gloria O'Connell, 763-236-3777

Crystal Ball to benefit heart initiative

COON RAPIDS, Minn. 01/18/2008--Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation’s 2008 Crystal Ball will raise money for Take Heart Twin Cities North, a sudden cardiac arrest survival initiative. The Twin Cities North community has been chosen as one of four national demonstration sites for the Take Heart America program.

"Each year more than 300 people suffer from cardiac arrest in Anoka County and the surrounding area," said Julie Nelson Gotham, executive director of the Mercy & Unity Hospitals’ Foundation. "The goal of Take Heart America is to quadruple the survival rate from cardiac arrest."

Gotham says the Take Heart America initiative provides widespread CPR training and public education, placement of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) and automated CPR devices in the community, improving professional rescuers’ CPR techniques and optimizing hospital care for cardiac arrest patients.

The seventh annual Crystal Ball community fundraiser will be held on April 5 at the Courtyards of Andover. The Crystal Ball is an evening of dinner, auctions, and entertainment. This year’s theme is Out of the Wild. Individuals and companies interested in tickets or sponsorships may call 763-236-8198 or 763-236-8199 for more information.

Mercy & Unity Hospitals, located in Coon Rapids and Fridley are non-profit hospitals that serve the northwestern Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The hospitals respond to a wide range of health needs with specialty services including cancer care, heart and vascular services, mental health services, orthopedics, neurosciences, and women's and children's services.