Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care kicked off a month of activities for American Heart Month on February 3 with Go Red for Women, National Wear Red Day, a day when people throughout the country are encouraged to wear red to raise awareness of cardiovascular disease. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States.
This year’s Heart Month theme, Staying Heart Smart, emphasizes that smart lifestyle changes can lead to big improvements in heart health and minimize the risk of heart disease.
At the kickoff, associates wearing lots of red gathered to hear remarks from Peter P. Semczuk, DDS, MPH, Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Moses and Wakefield Campuses, Montefiore Einstein, and Leandro N. Slipczuk Bustamante, MD, PhD, Cardiologist, Internal Medicine, Director of Advanced Cardiac Imaging Program and the Cardiovascular Atherosclerosis and Lipid Disorder Center, Montefiore Einstein, and Assistant Professor, Medicine (Cardiology), Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Dr. Semczuk and Dr. Slipczuk stressed the importance of heart health and talked about the high prevalence of heart disease in the Bronx, emphasizing that annual awareness campaigns like American Heart Month can help people live healthier through nutrition, exercise and lifestyle choices.
Following tradition, associates at the Wakefield Campus led the Montefiore Mile walk through Wakefield hallways to stay heart healthy and get their daily steps in. February’s other events—such as educational booths and blood pressure screenings—offer outreach and the latest information on preventing heart disease to the entire community.
All Staying Heart Smart activities, sponsored by To Your Health! Associate Wellness and the Center for Heart and Vascular Care, are free and open to the public during Montefiore Einstein’s American Heart Month. To stay up to date with planned events and find diet and exercise tips as well as information about heart health, visit www.montefiore.org/heartmonth.
