Spectrum Health Featuring Cardiovascular Education for Heart Month

February is American Heart Month and Spectrum Health is offering a number of programs to improve your heart knowledge and health.

The month begins Friday, February 1, with cardiologist Helayne Sherman, MD, appearing on WOOD TV-8’s eightWest to discuss women’s heart health. Tune in at 11 a.m.

“Lowering Your Risk of Developing Blood Clots” will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 4, on the eighth floor of the Spectrum Health Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center, 100 Michigan Street NE, Grand Rapids. More than 100,000 Americans die from deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms every year. Vascular surgeon Jason Slaikeu, MD, will discuss the dangers blood clots can pose and how to prevent them. Register for this free event by calling 616.267.2626, option 4, or sign up online at spectrumhealth.org/heartmonth.

A web chat titled “Love Your Legs” will be held at noon on Thursday, February 14. Interventional cardiologist Kevin Wolschleger, MD, will be online to answer your questions about varicose and spider veins as well as treatment options. Most treatment for varicose and spider veins is done on an outpatient basis and patients see positive results as soon as one week after treatment. Also, varicose veins are recognized as a medical condition that is covered by many insurance plans. All Spectrum Health web chats can be accessed at spectrumhealth.org/onlinechat.

Cardiologist Helayne Sherman, MD, and genetics specialist Paul Mark, MD, team up to present “Heart to Heart—One Generation to Another,” at 6 p.m. on Monday, February 18, at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. Join Drs. Sherman and Mark along with other clinicians sharing heart health tips for women and their mothers, daughters and sisters. The program is free and a dinner salad is included. Register for this event by calling 616.267.2626, option 4, or sign up online at spectrumhealth.org/heartmonth.

Spectrum Health heart staff will present “Small Steps for a Healthy Heart” at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February, 19, at the Kent District Library Walker Branch, 4293 Remembrance Road NW. Sue Verwys, RN, and Kim Delafuente, exercise physiologist, will present the free, 90-minute program. Register for this event by calling 616.267.2626, option 4, or sign up online at spectrumhealth.org/heartmonth.

Heart month programs finish on Tuesday, February 26, when electrophysiologist Musa Dahu, MD, appears on WOOD TV-8’s eightWest to talk about sudden cardiac arrest. Tune in at 11 a.m.

In addition to the heart-healthy programs being offered in February, Spectrum Health also is launching a Facebook page dedicated to cardiovascular information and healthy living. The Spectrum Health Heart & Vascular page is located at www.facebook.com/spectrum.health.heart.vascular.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of nine hospitals including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, a state of the art children’s hospital that opened in January 2011, and 140 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart, physician groups totaling more than 700 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with 600,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with 19,000 employees. The organization provided $204 million in community benefit during its 2012 fiscal year.