Health Screenings At The Mall On February 19

DANBURY — Staff from The Marcus Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Danbury Hospital will be at the Danbury Fair Mall (lower level at the Lord & Taylor court) on Thursday, February 19, from 6 to 8 pm offering low cost cholesterol and glucose screenings to support and promote awareness of heart disease during American Heart Month.

While the screenings are open to men and women, the screening event is a sequel to the recent American Heart Association initiative “National Wear Red Day: Taking Women’s Health to Heart” that was conducted in early February. The local initiative encouraged women to wear red on February 6 to show support for raising awareness of heart disease as the number one killer of women in the United States.

“Heart disease is the number one cause of death in women in the United States and responsible for 267,000 deaths a year — six times as much as breast cancer,” said Andrew Keller, MD, acting chief of the Cardiology Division at Danbury Hospital. “There can be distinct differences in the way that men and women present with heart disease and heart attack symptoms.”

February is all about prevention and treatment of heart disease. In addition, to better serve the citizens of the area, Danbury Hospital recently filed its Certificate of Need (CON) application with the State of Connecticut Office of Health Care Assess to establish a primary and elective angioplasty and open heart surgery program. Accompanying the application were more than 20,000 signatures of support from business leaders, elected officials physicians, nurses, trade unions, and the community at large.

For more information about the Danbury Hospital-sponsored cholesterol and glucose screenings at the Danbury Fair Mall on Thursday, February 19, or for information about advanced cardiology plans at Danbury Hospital, call 797-7247.