Get your red on for Mat-Su Regional’s annual Go Red Heart Fair

Get your red on for Mat-Su Regional’s annual Go Red Heart Fair

Mat-Su Regional is kicking off February Heart Month with Rock the Heart Beat — Go Red, a yearly health event that focuses attention on healthy lifestyles and increasing awareness of heart disease.

This year’s Go Red health fair will take place Saturday, Feb. 8, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the main lobby of Mat-Su Regional Medical Center at 2500 Woodworth Loop, in Palmer and will feature a variety of giveaways, games, prizes, educational talks and local vendors from the Mat-Su community.

The forum always draws a huge crowd, not only for its festive atmosphere, but also for the educational presentations the hospital sponsors.

This year’s featured speaker will be Ellen Gallant, MD, a board-certified interventional cardiologist from Mat-Su Heart. She will be presenting on the topic of heart attack care and the hospital experience, followed by nutrition tips focused on heart disease prevention.

Guests will also be able to participate in the Go Red group photo located past the cafeteria at any time throughout the event. Everyone wearing a red outfit is welcome to join the photo, which will be displayed in the hospital.

In addition to the presentation and group photo, Mat-Su Regional is providing tours of the Cardiac Cath Lab, blood pressure checks and an echocardiogram display as well as short Hands-Only CPR trainings which are in partnership with Mat-Su Borough EMS.

There will be no labs taken at the event itself, but all who attend will receive a free lab voucher for fasting glucose and lipids to use at a later time.

Until a few years ago most people were unaware that heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, according to the American Heart Association. The majority of people surveyed responded that cancer was the leading cause of death. Cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year than the next four leading causes of death combined – cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents and diabetes mellitus.

The last hour of the event, Mat-Su Regional’s Birch Leaf Café will cater some healthy appetizers to health fair participants. The event is free and open to the public. Both women and men are encouraged to attend and wear red in support of heart disease awareness.

For more information, contact Deena Straub at 861-6807.

Mat-Su Regional Medical Center is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. It is a 125-bed acute care healthcare facility providing advanced surgical service, including robotic-assisted partial and total knee and total hip replacement, cardiac care, emergency services, sleep studies, three urgent care centers, a behavioral health wing, the Family Birthing Center and is home to the 30-Minutes-or-Less ER Service Pledge.

Mat-Su Regional is accredited as a Chest Pain Center by the American College of Cardiology, and as an Acute Stroke Ready Hospital by The Joint Commission. The hospital has twice been named one of the Top 150 Places to Work in Healthcare by Becker’s Hospital Review. To learn more about Mat-Su Regional, visit www.MatSuRegional.com.