News

Beebe Medical Center will Host Popular Community Heart Fair February 17

01/26/11

Beebe Medical Center once again is highlighting the importance of heart health during February, the official American Heart Month.

Beebe Medical Center will host the 7th Annual Community Heart Fair on Thursday, February 17, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. The event, which normally draws more than 1,000 people, promises to be even better this year with more booths and more exhibitors, as well as the traditional offerings of free screenings, health education and food.

Free screenings to be offered will be cholesterol screenings, blood pressure checks, glucose screenings, body mass index calculations, and stroke risk assessments -- those that can alert one of the possibility of cardiovascular disease.

We look forward to sponsoring this event for our community, says Peggy Bixler, RN, MSN, ACNP-BC, CEN, Beebe Medical Center Community Health Nurse Coordinator and event organizer. Heart disease continues to be the No. 1 killer and so we are focused on ways to prevent heart disease, as well as ways to treat it. The first thing we need to do is to establish our risk factors, which is why we do the screenings.

Those taking part in the event represent several walks of life that focus on healthy lifestyles and prevention and treatment of heart disease. Beebe Medical Center representatives include those from Nutritional Services, Home Health, Cardiovascular Services, Diabetes Management, and Gull House, a daycare for adults with physical and mental disabilities.

Lynn Toth, RN, MSN, NP, a Beebe Medical Center cardiovascular medical specialist, will give a presentation on stroke. Beebe Medical Center is certified by The Joint Commission as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center. In May 2010, Beebe Medical Center received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Stroke Silver Plus Performance Achievement Award.

Certified Diabetes Educators will be available to offer helpful information to those with diabetes. They also will have educational materials available for free. Beebe's diabetes self-management education program has been awarded continued recognition from the American Diabetes Association for offering high-quality education to the patients it serves. The classes are offered at Beebe Medical Center's Diabetes Management outpatient location at the Long Neck Health Campus on Long Neck Road in the Millsboro area. Diabetes is another major risk factor for heart disease.

The American Heart Association also will be represented, as well as Mended Hearts, the non-profit support organization for people who have had open-heart surgery. Representatives from Beebe Medical Center's Patient Financial Services and the state-funded Community Healthcare Access Program (CHAP) will be on hand to discuss financial aid so that people get the medical care that they need.

A representative from The Sussex Family YMCA will be on hand to share information on exercise and fitness programs offered through the Rehoboth Beach location. Representatives from the Blood Bank of Delaware will be available to discuss programs and representatives from Beltone Hearing Aid Center will carry out free hearing tests. Representatives from Halpern Eye Associates will offer visual acuity tests.

Light, healthy snacks will be available throughout the day and lunch will be served. For more information on the event, please call (302) 645-3468.

Beebe Medical Center's cardiology services include a Cardiac Surgery Program, in affiliation with Christiana Care Health System, and an Interventional Cardiology Program, as well as non-invasive cardiac diagnostic procedures and cardiac rehabilitation services.

Beebe Medical Center is a not-for-profit community medical center with a charitable mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health with the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. For more information, please visit us online at www.beebemed.org.