PHOTO: Tim Bishop Promotes Heart Health at Mather Hospital

Rep. Tim Bishop took part in a Blood Pressure Screening at Mather Hospital to mark American Heart Month and to stress the importance of keeping blood pressure under control in order to reduce the risk heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.

The hospital also gave Bishop a tour of the state-of-the-art 320-slice CT scanner now being used to detect heart disease. In 2012, Mather became the first community hospital on Long Island to use advanced scanning technology for computed tomography angiography, or cardiac CTA, which uses non-invasive digital imaging to diagnose coronary artery blockage.

Mather’s 320-slice CT scanner creates 3-D images of the whole heart in significantly less time than other scanners and with much less radiation. Mather acquired the CT scanner in 2011 with funding that was secured by Bishop, a grant from the John T. Mather Memorial Hospital Perpetual Trust and a donation from the Hospital Auxiliary.