WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – WomenHeart of Winston-Salem, a support group connected with a national advocacy group focused on women’s heart disease, will have its first meeting at 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009, at BestHealth in Hanes Mall.
The national organization called WomenHeart is dedicated to promoting women’s heart health through advocacy for equal access to treatment and care, prevention and early detection, and increased research and clinical trials targeting women. About 44 million women have heart disease or are at risk for heart disease.
Volunteers from WomenHeart of Winston-Salem and professionals from the medical community will provide education about risk factors, symptoms and preventive measures. The support group, led by “champions” who train at the Mayo Clinic, provides an opportunity for women to gather information, tell their stories, educate others and learn about local resources.
WomenHeart of Winston-Salem is affiliated with the Heart Center of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. To register for the support group, call BestHealth at (336) 716-2255. To learn more about Wake Forest Baptist’s Women’s Heart Health Program, visit wfubmc.edu/heart/womens or call Susan Butler, R.N., at (336) 713-4427.
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Media Contacts: Ann Hopkins, ahopkins@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-1280, Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wfubmc.edu, or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-4587.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Brenner Children’s Hospital, Wake Forest University Physicians, and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine and Piedmont Triad Research Park. The system comprises 1,154 acute care, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and has been ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report since 1993. Wake Forest Baptist is ranked 32nd in the nation by America’s Top Doctors for the number of its doctors considered best by their peers. The institution ranks in the top third in funding by the National Institutes of Health and fourth in the Southeast in revenues from its licensed intellectual property.