Ep. 95 - Florence Champagne: Turning Heart Pain into Purpose

Ep. 95 - Florence Champagne is Chairperson and CEO of the Open My Heart Foundation. Florence suffered a heart attack in 2012 and, as a result, she had emergency open heart surgery. Due to being uninsured at the time, she did not readily receive the necessary diagnostic testing and life-saving treatment. She found that she was not alone and met other African-American women along the way, who were either uninsured or underinsured, which impacted their ability to receive treatment, thus, creating a life-threatening disparity. Being a heart survivor, she found purpose in her pain as she provides support, advocacy, and leadership to women living with heart disease. Florence is also a spokesperson for WomenHeart: A national coalition of women who support women living with or who are at risk of heart disease. The mission of the Open My Heart Foundation is to help eliminate heart health disparities among African American Women and Women of Color.