Feature Story
Health Center Today, February 15, 2011
Kick Up Your Heels Campaign Raises Awareness About Heart Disease
By Carolyn Pennington
Cardiac Cath Lab Staff - Karen DiMatteo, Patricia Fagan, Christy Meyer.
Photos by Janine Gelineau
The Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center’s campaign “Kick Up Your Heels and Keep Moving for a Healthy Heart” prompted employees from all over the Health Center to wear red shoes, sneakers or boots on Valentine’s Day. The campaign aims to increase awareness about heart disease – the nation’s number one killer of both men and women.
Employees in the cardiology center, pulmonary medicine, cardiac cath lab, electrophysiology lab, operating room, and the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) were among those participating in the campaign by wearing red shoes, red booty covers and/or clothing to show their spirit.
“Our goal was to raise awareness for heart disease and showcase the Calhoun Cardiology Center to the Health Center family as well as the community,” says Linda Manzelli with the cardiology center. “It’s important to let people know about the new advances in heart disease treatment emerging every day and some of them right from our own center.”
Cardiology center staff manned a booth in the Food Court where they provided information about ways to keep your heart healthy or how to make a donation to the Calhoun Cardiology Center. For a small donation, they also handed out red booty covers– the kind typically worn in the operating room.
“This is the first year that we tried anything like this,” added Manzelli. “We hope to eventually do a Health Center wide event that we can videotape and post to our website – similar to the “Pink Glove” video that was done for breast cancer awareness.”
Cardiology staff members Marie Kazimierczak and Johanny Rivera provide information about heart disease at an informational table set up in the Food Court on February 14.
Calhoun Cardiology Center staff members taking part in the "Kick Up Your Heels" campaign.
