St. Clair Hospital Is 'Going Red'

The hospital that brought us  in anticipation of the Super Bowl will “Go Red” on Friday to raise awareness about the dangers of heart disease in women.

 is promoting the “Go Red” campaign from the American Heart Association because many people are unaware that heart disease is the leading killer of women.

“The majority of our (hospital) employees are women. We tend to ignore our symptoms,” said Cyndi Havrilak, the director of Cardiovascular Services at St. Clair. “They can educate their patients, but also make sure they’re ok, too.”

On Tuesday, the hospital hired a sculptor to create a heart using a 300-pound block of red ice. Havrilak said employees will dress in red Thursday and be treated to red food in the cafeteria that includes strawberries, Jell-O, chicken with red peppers and chili.

Even though the national program is scheduled to take place on Friday, workers will still be allowed to dress up in Steelers colors for the day. The cardiologists in Havrilak's department, though, will be sporting red ties. Employees will be able to undergo body mass index screenings and have their blood pressure tested on Friday.

According to the American Heart Association, more than 433,000 women in this country die from heart disease each year. Havrilak said women sometimes don’t recognize the symptoms – such as shortness of breath or pain in the shoulders or jaw – because they are different than what men experience.

“Women tend to put it off,” Havrilak said. “That’s part of our problem.”

For more information on the national “Go Red” campaign on Friday, check out the AHA’s website.