Red Dress Rally at the State House
January 26, 2009
COLUMBIA, SC – January 23, 2009 – Providence Heart & Vascular Institute encourages women to attend its fifth annual Red Dress Rally on Tuesday, February 3, to call greater attention to the danger of heart disease among women.
The event will be held at noon in the rotunda of the State House, and women are encouraged to wear red dresses for the occasion. The day will officially be dedicated to the issue of heart disease in women. Representatives from the American Heart Association and Providence’s Red Dress Ambassadors, women who have volunteered to spread the word about the importance of this critical health issue will all be on hand to share their personal experiences.
“February is National Heart Month, and we believe the Red Dress Rally is a great way to call attention to the issue of heart disease,” says George Zara, president & CEO of Providence Hospitals. “We want women to understand that heart disease is preventable and controllable.”
The annual Red Dress Rally is one of several activities associated with the hospital’s Red Dress Campaign, which helps to demonstrate that heart disease is not just a man’s disease. While most women assume that breast cancer is their chief health threat, heart disease actually kills nearly 12 times as many women as breast cancer. Nationwide heart disease kills half a million women each year, compared to 42,000 for breast cancer.
Providence Heart & Vascular Institute, often called “South Carolina’s Heart Hospital,” is widely recognized for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Since opening in 1974, Providence Hospitals has conducted more cardiovascular procedures than any other medical team in the state, performing nearly 1,000 open-heart surgeries and more than 7,000 heart catheterizations annually.
