CVS MinuteClinic venues offer free heart health screenings

ANGELA PATTERSON, chief nurse practitioner officer, CVS MinuteClinic, and vice president, CVS Health, encourages adults to know their heart health numbers. / COURTESY CVS HEALTH
ANGELA PATTERSON, chief nurse practitioner officer, CVS MinuteClinic, and vice president, CVS Health, encourages adults to know their heart health numbers. / COURTESY CVS HEALTH

PROVIDENCE – The 1,100-plus CVS Health MinuteClinic locations across the country will observe Valentine’s Day this year by offering free “Know Your Numbers” heart health screenings – measuring total cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and body mass index – for its customers. In Rhode Island, there is one CVS MinuteClinic in each of the following cities: Cranston, East Greenwich, North Smithfield, Providence, Wakefield, Westerly and Woonsocket. CLICK HERE for a list of MinuteClinic locations; no appointment is necessary and screenings, which will take 20-30 minutes, will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

With nearly one in three women dying each year from cardiovascular disease – equivalent to one death every 80 seconds across the country – knowledge is power. “This February, in recognition of American Heart Month, CVS Health is doubling down on their support of women’s heart health,” Angela Patterson, chief nurse practitioner officer, MinuteClinic, and vice president, CVS Health, said. “Many people don’t realize that 80 percent of heart disease may be preventable with the appropriate lifestyle changes, so it’s important to be armed with heart health knowledge.”

After customers receive their heart health screening numbers, Patterson encourages them to speak with a MinuteClinic health care provider or their primary care physician to assess their risk for heart disease and stroke. For patients who need a new health care provider, the MinuteClinic health care provider can provide referrals to local physicians, said Patterson. For those individuals whose test results are alarming, the MinuteClinic nurse practitioners are trained to refer such patients to the emergency room under their own steam or by ambulance, as appropriate.

In related news, CVS Health, a new national sponsor of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women initiative, announced its new pledge to raise and donate a minimum of $10 million from 2017 through December 2019 to support cardiovascular research and education. The company will do more than allow customers to make in-store or online donations, said Patterson, with in-store marketing, cause-marketing opportunities, digital advertising and social media. Go Red for Women, the AHA’s national movement to end heart disease and stroke in women, named Helena Foulkes, president of CVS Pharmacy, its inaugural national chair, CVS Health reported. Go Red for Women, added Patterson, helps to empower women to take charge of their health and raise additional awareness of heart disease as the primary killer of women.

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“Many of our colleagues, customers and communities have been touched by heart disease and stroke and we are encouraging them to help us inspire action and support the work of the American Heart Association by ‘going red’ and as part of our company’s broader commitment to helping people on their path to better health,” Foulkes said in a statement.

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