EDITOR’S NOTE: The date of the Red, Set, Go! luncheon has been corrected. It is on Feb. 25.
PORT ANGELES — Tickets are on sale now for the Olympic Medical Center Foundation’s 15th annual Red, Set, Go! Heart Luncheon on Feb. 25.
The luncheon, which will be presented by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe virtually and in person at Vern Burton Community Center, 308 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles, will be from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Individual tickets are $60.
Those interested in sponsoring or attending the event can contact the Foundation office at 360-417-7144 or buy their tickets at www.omhf.org.
“We encourage you to attend this wonderful event,” said committee chair Karen Rogers.
“Because we already have sold a record amount of sponsorship ($55,000), 100 percent of all money raised at the luncheon will go towards local cardiac service care. Over the last 14 years we have raised over $500,000.”
Those who want to attend virtually will be told how they can attend online when they purchase tickets.
Those who attend in person will find tables spaced out for social distancing. They will be asked to show proof of vaccination or a negative test for COVID-19
Guest speakers will include Dr. Joshua Jones, who will speak on the mental aspect of recovery; Dr. Kara Urnes, Olympic Medical Center Heart Center director, and Julie Hatch, who will deliver a survivor story.
The luncheon is two-fold — it raises awareness about the critical issue of heart health for women on the Olympic Peninsula, and is the primary fundraising event for the OMC Heart Center.
Funds from the 2022 event will go toward the purchase of a Mobile C-arm X-Ray that will provide for the support that is needed for the OMC Heart Center’s new leadless pacemaker program.
It also has multiple other uses, and will be used to improve care for orthopedic and general surgery.
The lunch promotes the idea that the key to eradicating heart disease is education.
“The purpose of our event is to inspire women to become more educated on how to improve their heart health,” Karnes said.
Urnes is one of OMC’s local cardiologists and is the only female cardiologist in Clallam County.
She is the medical director of the OMC Heart Center and the Sequim Specialty Clinic and is board certified in cardiology, nuclear cardiology and echocardiography.
She has been a regular presenter at this event in the past and has been a bronze sponsor every year.
Jones is a board-certified general and forensic psychiatrist who has been the chief physician officer for Olympic Medical Physicians (OMP) since 2016.
In that role, he ensures the operation of OMP clinics in Port Angeles and Sequim, including the Olympic Medical Physicians Cardiology clinic.
Born and raised in southwest Washington, he completed medical school at the University of Washington in 2002, psychiatry residency in Vermont in 2006, and a forensic psychiatry fellowship in Rochester, NY in 2007.
Jones is also a veteran of the United States Army, having served as a psychiatrist in Iraq in 2008.
He and his wife have two children and moved to Port Angeles in 2010.
His passions include outdoor athletics, meditation, and de-stigmatizing mental illness so treatment for mental conditions is as accessible as for any other medical condition.
All proceeds raised at the educational luncheon will benefit local patients with heart disease issues.
“We invite all the women in our community to join us at our inspiring luncheon,” Rogers said.
