Focusing Hearts on Above

MANSFIELD, TEX. – Like the strong military family that came before her, Andrea Whitted served in the Army for ten years before making a career change to the medical field. “I come from a strong Hispanic background. The values my father learned from my grandfather are instilled in me, and I do my best to instill those same values in my children,” said Whitted, now the cardiac catheterization laboratory manager at Texas Health Hospital Mansfield. 

Whitted joined the hospital team shortly after its opening in 2020. She knew it was an opportunity to make a difference in her community. With her extensive background working in the cath lab at two AdventHealth facilities, she was ready to make an impact. Her focus was to introduce a new program to deal with a particularly severe and dangerous type of heart attack called ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), which has a greater risk of serious complications and death. With her team, Whitted worked diligently to ensure the hospital was equipped to serve patients who came to them with chest pain and active heart attacks. 

Over the last two years, the STEMI program has already saved countless lives in the Mansfield community. With an average of 30 cases per month, the program has continued to grow. “Our mission is Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, and the fact that we can do that openly and freely is everything to me,” Whitted said. 

“To be given the opportunity to help calm my STEMI patients with prayer is huge. They are experiencing one of the scariest moments of their lives, and we can offer them prayer, a calm within the storm. I have been on that side as a scared family member more than I would like to count, and prayer truly means everything in those moments.”

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By Kaitlyn Braddock

Marketing Communications Manager