South Miami Heart Center recently presented the fifth annual Women’s Heart Health Day at the James L. Knight Center, where attendees learned the importance of educating themselves about the risk factors of cardiovascular disease. The fair offered women free screenings for high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure and on-the-spot counseling for their personal risk factors from trained health professionals from Florida Heart Research Institute. Throughout the day, education presentations were given in English, Spanish and Creole on medical, nutritional, fitness and lifestyle topics.

"Every year the event brings awareness to heart disease and how it is the leading killer of American women, but also how it is largely preventable," said Carol Biggs, RN, vice president of South Miami Heart Center, the presenting sponsor of Women’s Heart Health Day. "We gave women who attended the fair a snapshot of their heart health and helped them realize whether they needed to see a doctor to address any concerns."

South Miami Heart Center hosted the Women’s Heart Health Day along with its beneficiary, Florida Heart Research Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to offering heart disease screenings and "heart-healthy" information and support to prevent heart disease.

Along with South Miami Heart Center, a part of South Miami Hospital, other sponsors included gold heart partners, Miami-Dade County and BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida, and silver heart partner, Carnival Corporation.

South Miami Heart Center and South Miami Hospital are part of Baptist Health, the region’s largest faith-based, not-for-profit healthcare organization and the area’s largest private employer. Baptist Health also includes Baptist, Baptist Children’s, Doctors, Homestead and Mariners Hospitals, as well as Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute, Baptist Outpatient Services and Baptist Health Enterprises. Baptist Health Foundation, the organization's fundraising arm, supports services at all hospitals and facilities affiliated with Baptist Health.