Waco, TX – At the American Heart Association's Annual Award Dinner, held on June 17th, the Distinguished Service Award was presented to Providence’s Director of Cardiology, Debbie Kucera as a volunteer member who has given outstanding and exceptional service to the American Heart Association in Texas. Research grants are named in honor of the award recipients because it is due to the efforts of these volunteers that research grants are made possible. What makes the award special is that it is given for service, not solely for monetary contributions.

Debbie is certainly a very worthy recipient for this award because, in addition to helping build the Providence heart program, she has given "outstanding and exceptional" service to the Heart Association. Debbie's career began at Providence in 1972, the same year that Providence performed the first open heart surgery in this area. Throughout her entire 31-year career, she has been devoted to Providence and the field of Cardiology. In addition to her duties as Director of Cardiology for the past 10 years, she has dedicated time and energy to supporting the various programs of the American Heart Association and its fund-raising efforts. Whether it is Women and Heart Health, Operation Heartbeat, HeartScore, or the American Heart Walk, Debbie consistently goes "above and beyond" in her commitment to the AHA mission and to help achieve the goals that the volunteers have set. Debbie has worked tirelessly as a volunteer for the American Heart Association for the past 10 years and neither wants nor expects praise or recognition for the tremendous job she does.

Each year Debbie serves as the Company Leader for the Providence Healthcare Network in the American Heart Walk fund-raising campaign, and she always exceeds what has been achieved the year before. Somehow, she motivates and inspires each department to participate and creates a spirit of fund and merriment throughout the hospital as the departments try to out-do each other with their creative fund-raising ventures. A very committed, goal-oriented volunteer, Debbie was the driving force in Providence raising $17,310 for the 2002-2003 Walk.

Debbie has also led the efforts in the Women and Heart Health education and awareness initiatives. She has co-chaired the event and served on the committee every year since the Division established the event 7 years ago. She helped spearhead the Operation Heartbeat Task Force and was involved in the initial assessments and community awareness campaigns. She has assisted in the mass CPR trainings and has continuously advocated for more AEDs in the community.
Congratulations to Debbie Kucera on her receipt of the Distinguished Service Award from the American Heart Association!