Tennessee
Celebrating 47 Award Winning Tennessee Hospitals
Every patient deserves access to high-quality heart and stroke care, regardless of where they live. Each year, the American Heart Association recognizes hospitals across the country – from rural areas to the most populated cities – for consistently following up-to-date, research-based treatment guidelines for cardiovascular disease.
Tennessee Passes Smart Heart Act
With support from local AHA staff and volunteers, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the Smart Heart Act, legislation that requires automatic defibrillators in schools and establishes response protocols for cardiac-related medical emergencies. The bill received unanimous, bipartisan legislative support.
Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry
This Simple Cooking with Heart tasty pork chop recipe with an Asian twist is a fast way to get a delicious and healthy dinner on your table tonight.
Birthday Balloons
To celebrate 100 years of the American Heart Association, our Knoxville team dropped off some balloons at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Those balloons have tags with the steps to hands-only CPR and were distributed to kids and families at the hospital. We were happy to share our birthday helping hearts across Tennessee!
Fighting Food Insecurity in Memphis
Abundant Earth Global CDC (AEGC) in Frayser, Memphis, combats food insecurity by providing access to healthy foods. Through the Abundant Student Success Academy and Waste Not, Want Not programs, AEGC educates and feeds students, turns unsold produce into meals for seniors and disabled residents, and offers healthy cooking classes. Their 1.2-acre farm and new storage units help reduce food waste and preserve produce, reaching 250 households monthly with plans to double within a year.
Nashville hosts statewide Heat of Hope Hypertension Summit
Seventy clinical and community partners from around the state attended Middle TN’s inaugural quality improvement summit featuring speakers from representatives from the American Medical Association, American Heart Association, Ascension Medical Group, IMPaCT Care, and Tennessee Department of Health
Healthy Hearts, Healthy Pantries
We are so thankful for our partnership with the Chattanooga Area Food Bank and Helping Hands Ending Hunger! Together, we are improving the health of North Georgia communities through our Healthy Hearts, Healthy Pantries initiative. With the help of these community partners, monthly produce drop offs, pantry equipment upgrades and nutrition education for staff and families is available to schools in North Georgia.
Give Thanks Today with 2X Impact
Thanks to medical breakthroughs funded by the American Heart Association – and donors like you – many families have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.
Many more families still need your help – heart disease is our nation’s leading cause of death. Give today and your donation will be DOUBLED to support pioneering research, education and prevention programs and more.
Events in Your Area
40th Annual Knoxville Heart Ball
Location: The Mill and Mine
Date: Saturday, February 1, 2025 - 06:00 PM
Get TicketsMiddle Tennessee Heart Gala
Location: Grand Hyatt
Date: Saturday, February 8, 2025 - 05:30 PM
RegisterMid-South Heart Ball
Location: The Peabody Memphis
Date: Saturday, February 15, 2025 - 05:30 PM
In Your Community
The Tennessee American Heart Association is committed to driving equitable health impact in the community through four priority areas: Hypertension, Tobacco & Vaping, Nutrition Security, and CPR and AED Awareness
Problem: Hypertension: Nearly 40% of of adults in Tennessee have high blood pressure
- Solution: The association is working with free clinics and community-based organizations throughout the Region to Establish blood pressure cuff loaner programs, and education and clinical referrals to at-risk populations.
Problem: Nutrition Insecurity: 1 in 9 people in Tennessee County live in a food desert. 800,970 people are facing hunger - and of them 197,490 are children.
- Solution: AHA has strategically placed cold storage units at local food pantries and youth-based organizations across the region allowing more As a people to access nutritious fruits and vegetables each month.
Problem: CPR/AED Awareness: Counties located in the south with higher proportions of rural areas, Black and Hispanic residents, and those with lower median household incomes all have lower rates of CPR training than other communities.
- Solution: AHA is actively addressing this issue by offering Hands-Only CPR demonstrations to residents across Tennessee and donating CPR anytime Kits to schools, hospitals, and businesses in the region. Through these efforts, more individuals can join the Nation of Lifesavers, bridging the gap in CPR/AED awareness and improving community resilience.
Problem: Tobacco and Vaping: Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States.
- Solution: we are working within schools and communities to teach our next generation about the dangers of smoking and vaping. We are also providing support for those who choose to quit.
AHA Advocates helped secure Tobacco 21 policy ensuring longer, quality lives for all Tennesseans.
We are fighting for longer lives in Tennessee by making the places where we live, learn, work, play, pray, and heal as healthy as they can be. It's no secret that under-resourced communities face great adversity and barriers that impact their heart health and overall well-being.
With your support, we can expand our nutrition security, blood pressure management, and anti-smoking/vaping efforts so that more of our neighbors have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, health education, and medical care. Together we will tackle these issues head on, creating a healthier Tennessee for all.
Tennessee Lobby Day
On March 6th, advocates, legislators, and families affected by sudden cardiac arrest unite to rally support for Cardiac Emergency Response Plans in our schools. Tennessee Senator Joey Hensley and Representative Scott Cepicky lead the charge for the Smart Heart Act, urging colleagues to prioritize our children's health. Thanks to their efforts, the bill passed unanimously by the General Assembly, ensuring that every school campus across Tennessee has a cardiac emergency response plan in place to act swiftly when minutes matter most.
President
Dr. Alison L. Bailey
Centennial Heart at Parkridge
Chair
Renee Ford
Elliott Davis
Chair Elect, Leadership Development Chair
Chris Hopkins
Apogee Wealth Partners
Members
Gregg T. Gentry
Erlanger Health System
Corinne Henderson
Henderson + Gardner, PLLC
Dr. Shewanee Howard-Baptiste
AHA Leadership Development Chair,
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Dr. Quincy Jenkins
Chattanooga State Community College
Dr. Mary Lambert
City of Chattanooga
Twila Layne
We R CPR
Dr. Chris LeSar
AHA Immediate Past President,
Vascular Institute of Chattanooga
Dr. Harish Manyam
Erlanger Health System
Pastor Ernest Reid
Second Missionary Baptist Church
Scott Rowe, PT
Encompass Health
Dr. Vimal Ramjee
President
Dr. Sumeet Sharma
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital
Chairperson
Tony Benton
Tennova Healthcare
Members
Andy Beam
Pinnacle Financial Partners
Jon-David Deeson
Covenant Health
Brett Foster
Knox County Schools
Dr. Malcolm Foster
Tennova Heart
Ryan Greer
Raymond James
Charles F. Lomax, Jr.
St. John Missionary Baptist Church
Dr. Ayaz Rahman
Covenant Health
Cheryl Smith
CPR Choice
Marsha Spence, PhD, MPH, RDN, LDN
The University of Tennessee
Dr. Brian Wiseman, Past President
The University of Tennessee Medical Center
President
Andrea Willis, M.D.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee
Chair
Fahad Tahir
Ascension Saint Thomas
Leadership Development Chair
Tom Ozburn
Immediate Past Chair
Mike Wiechart
TeamHealth
Members
Gregory J. Allen
Greg Allen LLC
Katina Beard, MSPH
Matthew Walker Clinic
Tyler Enstice
GEODIS
Eric Evans
Surgery Partners
Lynn Friedrichs
Deloitte
William Haugh
Lifepoint Health
Penny Houchens
Gresham Smith
Veronica Mallett
Common Spirit Health
Tara Myers
ESA
Daniel Muñoz, M.D.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Evelio Rodriguez, MD
Ascension Saint Thomas Heart
Margaret Rush, M.D.
Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital
Joseph Webb, M.D.
Nashville Healthcare Center
Stephanie Wise
TriStar Division
Mark Yancy
Nashville Health
Chair
Andy Davis
Turner Construction Company
President
Dr. Cassandra Howard
Methodist Germantown Hospital
Members
Steven Gubin, M.D.
Stern Cardiovascular Foundation
John Jefferies, M.D.
University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center
Raaj Kurapati
University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center
Roxanne McGonigal
Caesars Entertainment
Doug McGowen
Memphis Light Gas & Water
Angela Moss
First Horizon National Corporation
Robyn Sharp
International Paper
Manoucheka Thermitus, MBA
Regional One Health
Benjamin Rush Waller, MD
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
Marques Young
Edward Jones
Jenny Bartlett- Prescott
Church Health
Contact Us
Chattanooga
By appointment only:
519 East 4th Street
Chattanooga, TN 37403
Knoxville
By appointment only
4708 Papermill Drive
Knoxville, TN 37909
Memphis
Mail-Only:
4728 Spottswood Avenue #214
Memphis, TN 38117
Nashville
By appointment only:
1818 Patterson Street
Nashville, TN 37203