The 8^th annual Go Red Lunch and Learn event was held on Friday, February 3, again hosted at Colgate University’s Hall of Presidents through the partnership of Community Memorial (CMH) and Colgate’s CU Well Program. This event for women and men serves as an education symposium focusing on heart health.

Community members, CMH patients and staff, donned their red attire and enjoyed a delicious lunch while listening to the 5-person panel discuss this year’s “Cardiac Care” story, featuring Marney, a patient of both CMH primary and specialty care. Marney’s story shared her real-life experience of how her Community Memorial healthcare providers helped diagnose her serious heart condition, allowing for prompt treatment.

Collaborating on the panel and answering questions from event moderator and Colgate physician Dr. Merrill Miller was Dr. Avneet Singh, Cardiologist; Rebecca Dorn, Cardiology Nurse Practitioner; Dr. Kerri Taylor, Primary Care; and Bernie Casscles, RN, Director of Nursing Emergency Services, all from the team of clinicians at Community Memorial. “This is my first Go Red at Community Memorial, and I’m proud to collaborate with other medical professionals and one of our patients to bring information to the community,” stated Dr. Singh. “Heart health is a relevant topic year-round, but we like to capture the expanded attention during National Heart Health Month each February.”

This annual collaboration between Community Memorial and Colgate University works to better patient outcomes by informing guests on specific heart-health topics. This free community forum showcases the importance of patients seeking care right away when they may have a heart medical issue. “When a heart emergency is happening, time is of the essence. The ER of Community Memorial is here for Hamilton and all the surrounding communities in these medical emergencies,” added Nurse Casscles.

National Wear Red Day is held annually on the first Friday in February. On this day, employees and medical staff at Community Memorial Hospital wore red to show support for heart disease awareness and for understanding its risks, and employees helped raise funds to donate to the American Heart Association. Heart Disease is the #1 killer of Americans, killing almost 700,000 individuals each year, but there is good news. According to the American Heart Association, 80 percent of cardiovascular diseases are preventable. The American Heart Association recommends that individuals know their numbers: cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index (BMI) and their family history.

For 70 years, Community Memorial Hospital’s mission has been to provide quality and caring healthcare to thousands of patients throughout nearly 30 Central New York communities throughout Madison County and beyond. Community Memorial provides primary care services with a network of five Family Health Centers (Hamilton, Cazenovia, Morrisville, Munnsville, and Waterville), an after-hours urgent care clinic – available in the evenings and weekends, and 24/7 emergency medicine services.