Heart to Heart at Rumford Hospital

River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition Photo: Times photo by Cherri Crockett

Sandy Witas, Patricia Duguay and Carol Emery of River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition are seen here modeling their red in honor of Go Red for Women Day, Feb. 4.

Key Bank Photo: Times photo by Cherri Crockett

Catherine Dorion (left), manager of Key Bank in Rumford is seen here with tellers Rachel Deroche and Caroline Philbrick wearing their red for Heart Awareness Month. 

Franklin Savings Bank Photo: Times photo by Cherri Crockett

Employees of Franklin Savings Bank in Rumford are seen here sporting their red for Heart Awareness Month.

Rumford Falls Times Photo: Times photo by Bruce Farrin

Nancy Theriault, Nancy Carpenter, Cherri Crockett and Denise Chessie of the Rumford Falls Times are seen here in red supporting Heart Awareness Month.

Weber Insurance Photo: Times photo by Cherri Crockett

Mark Cote, owner of Advantage Insurance Agency in Rumford is seen here with his staff sporting their red during Heart Awareness Month.

Island Girls Photo: Times photo by Cherri Crockett

Rumford Island businesses being represented during Go Red for Women are: Lennox Capital Management, United Insurance and All that Jazz.

RUMFORD-  “Let's have a heart to heart,” how many times have you wanted to learn more, but were afraid to ask? Now is your chance. On Saturday, February 26 from 8 a.m. to noon, the Rumford Hospital team will host their annual Heart to Heart conference, which is open to the public.
According to spokesperson Jane Bubar, “The purpose of the conference is to educate people about heart disease and how they can manage their risks. We have a mix of participants every year. Some have already been diagnosed with heart disease, some know of a family risk, some want to make lifestyle changes and some are just interested in the program.”
Bubar noted that in past years, the hospital has focused on serving heart healthy foods and explaining heart health to attendees; sometimes doing a compare and contrast type of class which included label reading.
They try doing a cooking demo every year to show how easy it is to prep heart healthy foods. “This is the first year we will present in-depth ideas on adapting recipes you already have,” stated Bubar.
Registered dietitian Jane Wardwell will provide information on heart healthy food preparation.
This year, Dr. Richard Shulman will be the guest speaker.
Shulman spent the first decade of his career as Chief of Cardiology at Brown University and The Miriam Hospital in Rhode Island. He spent the next two decades in the private practice of cardiology as managing partner of Cardiovascular Associates of RI. He has published extensively in the area of lipid metabolism.
Ten years ago, as director of the Southcoast Hospital Systems cardiac catherization laboratory he spearheaded the successful effort to establish cardiac interventional and surgical programs in community hospitals in Massachusetts.
More recently he completed fellowships in Cardiac MRI at Washington University in St Louis and cardiac CT in New York. He will talk about risks for heart disease including metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome is a set of conditions; hypertension, elevated insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist or abnormal cholesterol levels, that occur together, increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
For patients with this syndrome, lifestyle changes can delay or even prevent the development of serious heart problems.
During the morning conference on Feb.26, the public will have the opportunity to also hear from a group of local panelists that create interaction by sharing their own stories of becoming heart healthy and answering audience questions.
The hospital will also distribute recipes collected from the 10 years of heart healthy conferences.
A complete schedule for the Heart to Heart Conference is as follows:
8 a.m. – 9 a.m.: Conference Room A – Ground Floor, Registration and Heart Healthy Breakfast; “How it’s healthy”
9 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.: Dr. Richard Shulman, “Heart Disease Risks”
9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: Jane Wardwell, RD, “Adapting Your Favorite Recipes”
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.: Break
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: Panel Discussion, “Motivating Yourself for Lifestyle Change”
11:45 a.m.: Heart Healthy Lunch
The public is required to pre-register if they plan to attend by calling Jane Bubar at 369-1143. Leave your phone number if you reach voice mail. Space is limited. This program is offered to the public free of charge.