Heart Connection Conference Update

Every year, we look forward to connecting with advocates in Washington D.C. and sharing our vision for the future we’re building together. We appreciate your passion and commitment to such an important cause! 

After careful consideration with our team regarding the health and safety of everyone in our community – our advocates, our exhibitors, and our legislative partners – we have made the difficult decision to cancel Heart Connection 2022, originally scheduled for February 27 – March 1 in Washington D.C. due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This decision was not made lightly and we are sorely disappointed to be in a position to cancel the event. While all of us at Conquering CHD are beyond disappointed in the cancellation, we believe there are some unexpected opportunities presented by the change. We believe the content planned for Heart Connection 2022 is still crucial for our community, so we are currently exploring shifting to a multipart webinar series over the coming months. 

This virtual webinar series has the benefits of:

• Allowing greater participation across the country (and throughout the world)
• Improving accessibility to our content and increasing the number of people who can directly benefit from this educational program
• Being offered to all members of the community – completely free of charge
• Allowing this crucial, educational content to be readily available to patients and families, care team members, and others when they need it most – not just during the live sessions

It is important to note: due to ongoing restrictions at the Capital, we will not be doing legislative visits on March 1st. Opportunities for grassroots advocacy activities will be available throughout the year, including letter-writing campaigns, action alerts, etc. 

Thank you for your understanding as we are still experiencing the uncertainties of this pandemic world. We deeply appreciate everyone who has attended this beloved event in the past and supported our dream of growing the conference to include educational sessions and additional opportunities to connect. We look forward to bringing you the Heart Connection 2022 programming in a reimagined way – bringing patients, families, providers, and policymakers together for one mission: to conquer the most common birth defect.