(Photo by Amber Phipps) Attendees enjoy a heart-healthy lunch during Memorial Health Foundation’s event series Conversations of Care held at the Wood County Resiliency Center Friday.

Nearly 150 individuals attended Memorial Health Foundation’s event series Conversations of Care at the Wood County Resiliency Center Friday afternoon.

As part of Memorial’s initiative to strengthen health and connections within the community, the event brought together doctors, community members and county officials.

With attendees adorned in red, the focus of Memorial’s latest event was on the cardiology and vascular teams and the work they’ve accomplished.

Attendees enjoyed a heart-healthy lunch accompanied with refreshments and a social hour before hearing from the keynote speaker, Memorial Health System’s cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Geoffrey Cousins.

Cousins’ presentation was titled, “A Change of Heart: Steps to Better Cardiovascular Health.”

(Photo by Amber Phipps) Memorial Health System’s cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Geoffrey Cousins, speaks about his surgery experience at the University of Michigan Medical School at the Conversations of Care luncheon Friday.

“I recognized early on that West Virginia was a place where people didn’t really have good healthcare,” said Cousins.

He described his upbringing as the youngest of 11 kids with a mom who had a cardiovascular disease and his father who worked primarily underground and dealt with “severe black lung.”

Cousins was raised in southern West Virginia and saw firsthand the diseases of the heart and lung. He graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed his Fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the Medical College of Virginia and completed his residency at St. John Hospital and Medical in Detroit.

Cousins specializes in beating heart surgery, coronary artery bypass surgery, cardiac valve surgery, lung surgery and aneurysm.

While guests enjoyed their meals, Cousins explained cardiovascular disease in women, how to improve heart health and the causes of heart issues.

(Photo by Amber Phipps) Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Geoffrey Cousins responds to questions from the audience during Memorial Health Foundation’s Conversations of Care event series Friday afternoon.

He said the most common “weapons of massive destruction” in terms of what causes heart diseases and bad health are unhealthy diets, smoking, drinking, and inactivity. He said we waste a lot of time on our phones and sitting around in front of our TVs.

“I remember some of my first surgeries,” he said. “It’s always very humbling, particularly when you’re touching somebody’s heart.”

Cousins described the signs and symptoms people should be aware of if they think they may have heart disease. He said oftentimes women won’t have chest-related symptoms but rather feel light-headed or nauseous.

“What’s very interesting is that 43% of women who had a heart attack had no acute chest pain symptoms,” said Cousins. “That’s why it’s very important for you to be tuned into yourself and not ignore any changes.”

Afterwards, guests had the opportunity to ask questions to some of the available cardiologists and vascular services providers.

(Photo by Amber Phipps) An image of a heart surgery procedure during Dr. Geoffrey Cousins presentation for Memorial Health Foundation’s event series Conversations of Care Friday afternoon.

The questions focused on the impacts of vaping on the heart, how long it took to recover from heart surgery, and the effects medications have on blood pressure.

“It’s all about bringing our community, our patients together with our providers in a setting that’s outside of the clinical area or hospital,” said Memorial Health Foundation Executive Director Jarrett Stull. “It’s also to learn about what services we offer here, close to home.”

He said they can operate just about any cardiology service and patients don’t need to leave the area to receive proper care or treatment.

“We’ve always held this in Marietta, but we wanted to bring it to this side of the river because about a third of our patients and growing are from West Virginia,” he said.

He said Memorial has always put on community-focused events but it wasn’t until recent years they started formally referring to it as the Conversations of Care series.

Stull said all of these events are free to the community to ensure individuals have access to more information and connect more with the providers.

Stull said the next event will be held May 19 at the Wood County Resiliency Center and focuses on primary care doctors.