The 4th annual Community Heart Fair, hosted by Beebe Medical Center, will be held Thursday, Feb. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center.
“I’m excited, because this is my first year as community health nurse coordinator,” said Peggy Diehl, coordinator of the event.
After 18 years in emergency room nursing and three years in education, Diehl moved to Delaware. She recently started as the community health nurse coordinator for Beebe Medical Center. She expressed much excitement for the annual heart fair and the new things that it will showcase this year.
“Something new we’ve added this year is a representative from the YMCA. Linda Leonard, a consumer health librarian, will be there and will be talking about the programs that she offers on how to use the Internet for health research. Also new this year, we will hear from Sam Roberts, Beebe’s director of pharmacy, and Marcy Jack, the director of risk management, about prescription drug safety.”
Jeffrey M. Fried, president of Beebe Medical Center, and cardiac surgeon Dr. Fernando Garzia, medical director of Beebe’s Cardiac Surgery Program, will provide opening remarks at 10 a.m., followed by remarks from interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Beebe Medical Center Interventional Cardiology Program Stephanie Goodwin at 11 a.m. There will be representatives from the American Heart Association, First Town Mended Hearts, an organization that provides support for heart surgery patients; Delaware QuitLine, a state program helping people with smoking cessation; the Delaware Pharmacy Association, the Blood Bank of Delaware, student nurses from Beebe School of Nursing, certified diabetes instructors and plenty of educational materials will be provided for free.
Screenings that will be offered include blood pressure checks, glucose screenings, body mass index calculations, stroke risk assessments and cholesterol screenings.
“I’m looking forward to my first Heart Fair,” concluded Diehl, “because it will show off our expanded services but still have a heart focus.”
For more information, call (302) 645-3468 or go online to www.beebemed.org.