Broward County’s newly sworn-in mayor is relaunching a health initiative rooted in a personal loss that reshaped his outlook on preventive care.
Nearly 20 years ago, Mark Bogen’s mother died suddenly from a heart attack, with no signs or symptoms leading up to it. The experience left him wondering whether anything could have detected the danger in time. He later discovered there was a test — a cardiac CT scan — and taking it revealed a life-threatening blockage that required immediate treatment. The realization that many people never hear about the test until it’s too late sparked the effort he would eventually champion as an elected official.
Pushed by Bogen, Broward became the first county in the U.S. to offer free cardiac CT scans to residents with no symptoms of heart disease. He enlisted radiologist Dr. Claudio Smuclovisky, director of South Florida Medical Imaging and a physician at Holy Cross Hospital, who agreed to design what would become the Broward Heart Project…