Hope
It begins with you.
Our Chapter Objectives
We are heart patient and caregiver volunteers, adults young and old, providing support and hope to patients and their caregivers from the diagnosis of heart disease through treatment and beyond.
Mended Hearts
The Bellingham Chapter of Mended Hearts normally meets monthly to offer support and information to all heart patients in our community. Our speakers are cardiologists, heart surgeons, nutritionists, and other health care professionals who offer insights into improving our heart health.
For more information please go to our Contact Page to send a message or contact our message line at 360-788-6928.
From Our
Chapter President,
Dianna Konrad
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Well Done Everyone!!!
We all like to be recognized and appreciated for the things we do. During August some of our special Mended Hearts chapter members and our hospital were given recognition accompanied by appreciation for all they have done for our chapter and for the support of heart patients in our community.
In August, I had the pleasure of presenting the Mended Hearts Inc. 2025 National Volunteer of the Year award to Tammy Longstaff. Tammy received the award for her nonstop efforts in supporting our Young Mended Hearts group where she is the go-to person to support the caregivers of heart patients, both locally and across the country. In addition she is our chapter secretary and a guiding voice with new ideas on our board of directors. Tammy’s exemplary efforts make us a better chapter. Congratulations Tammy!
We also paid honor to four of our behind-the-scenes members whose help we always need. We wouldn’t be the same chapter without them. You can read about our Humble Hero Awards in our newsletter.
Also in August, our chapter’s board of directors presented PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center with the Mended Hearts Inc. 2025 National Hospital of the Year award. This wasn’t just any award, it was a highly contested honor that could only be won by one hospital of the 643 hospitals Mended Hearts chapters serve.
At our presentation, our board members expressed their gratitude for the care they received as a patient or caregiver, appreciation for the countless ways the hospital helps us support heart patients and their families, and for the cooperation and acknowledgement our chapter receives from the heart related departments in the hospital. We know our chapter could not exist and thrive without their support of us and our mission.
The hospital management team expressed their appreciation for the award. They are committed to continuing their efforts to recruit the best doctors, nurses, and supporting teams that makes St. Joseph Medical Center a place patients can be treated and cared for with confidence. The cardiologists and surgeons are grateful their patients can talk to us as fellow patients for reassurance and insight. They consider us part of the hospital’s family and appreciate us for choosing to take the time to support others. This relationship is a winner - for the hospital, for us and especially for heart patients and their families.
What an exciting month we’ve had! At the end of the day we recognize all of the award winners as very special people for many different reasons. We are very happy for them. Why? Because when one of us wins, we all feel like we’ve won too.
Young Mended Hearts
Since April, 2015, we've been inviting all young heart patients (18 to 55) and their families to join other young heart patients and their families for an informal monthly get-together to discuss the common issues, challenges and successes of being a young heart patient.
Please join us. Follow us on Facebook!
Young Mended Hearts of NorthWest Washington
For more information about Young Mended Hearts, please contact Peter Kilcline at kilcline.p@gmail.com
or Dianna Konrad at dmk9@sbcglobal.net
Are You Having Open Heart
Surgery Soon?
Before You Do, Would You Like to Talk with
Someone Who Has?
You can get information and questions answered about what it’s like to go through open heart surgery by watching this video featuring two Mended Heart volunteers who share their experiences as open heart surgery patients. You can also speak with either of these volunteers by contacting them through our “Contact” page.
Our sincere thanks to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center for their encouragement and production of this video.
Awards
Together, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center and Mended Hearts Bellingham are making a difference in our community by supporting heart patients and their caregiver families. These efforts have been acknowledged by the international headquarters of The Mended Hearts, Inc., Albany, GA, with the following awards:
PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s Medical Center
2025 National Hospital of the Year
Tammy Longstaff
2025 National Volunteer of the Year
Marilynn Huffman
2023 Western Region Volunteer of the Year
Dianna Konrad
2020 Western Region Volunteer of the Year
PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s Medical Center
2018 National Hospital of the Year
PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s Medical Center
2017 Regional Hospital of the Year
PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s Medical Center
2016 Regional Hospital of the Year
Mended Hearts, Bellingham
2015 President’s Cup Award
For outstanding service in our community
PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s Medical Center
2014 Regional Hospital of the Year
The Western Region of Mended Hearts chapters includes the states of California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii
Bequests and Gifts
We sincerely appreciate the thoughtfulness and generosity behind the bequests and gifts given to our chapter. This helps us remember and honor those special people while continuing our promise to support all heart patients and their families in our community.
The Ingram Family, Shirley McCraw, The Bishop Family and The Dircks Family, all close friends of Charlie Heinemann and his family, have made a generous gift to our Mended Hearts chapter in memory of John Heinemann.
Scott Swanson presented a generous gift to our Mended Hearts chapter as a bequest from the estate of his parents, Philip and Joyce Swanson.
The estate of Stephen James Brewster made a significant donation to the PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation in honor of Mended Hearts, Bellingham. A cath lab patient room in St. Joseph’s Cardiovascular Center will be named:
Stephen James Brewster
In Honor of Mended Hearts