The Olympic Medical Center Foundation will present the 14th-annual Red, Set, Go! Heart Luncheon virtually from 11:15 a.m.-1:15 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26.

Persons interested in sponsoring or attending the event can contact the foundation office at 360-417-7144 or buy tickets at omhf.org. Individual tickets are $60.

Last year, a record 340 people attended.

The event is presented by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

“We encourage you to attend this wonderful event,” said committee chair Karen Rogers. “Because we already have sold a record amount of sponsorship ($51,000), 100 percent of all money raised at the luncheon will go towards local cardiac service care.

“To date we have raised over $500,000.”

Guest speakers for the event will be Dr. A. Dilusha William from Swedish Heart & Vascular Institute, Dr. Kara Urnes from Olympic Medical Center, and Sue Priest, who will deliver a survivor story.

The luncheon is two-fold, organizers say: 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 2021 event will go toward purchase of several EKGs for Olympic Medical Center, OMC representatives said.

EKG machines measure time intervals that enable doctors to determine how long a electrical wave takes to pass through the heart; that helps show if electrical activity is normal. By measuring this activity, cardiologists may be able to find out if parts of a heart are too large or overworked.

The lunch promotes that the key to eradicating heart disease is education, they said.

“The purpose of our event is to inspire women to become more educated on how to improve their heart health,” Urnes 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.

William specializes in the patient-centered, multidisciplinary management of cardiac arrhythmias. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, he is board certified in cardiovascular disease and clinical cardiac electrophysiology.

In the first 13 years, the event has raised money to benefit patients through the Olympic Medical Center’s cardiac program and save lives, according to OMC representatives. Funds raised have also been used to purchase Zio Patch, defibrillators, treadmills, a nuclear imaging camera and a cardiovascular ultrasound machine.

All proceeds raised at the educational luncheon will once again benefit local patients with heart disease issues.

“We invite all the women in our community to join us at our inspiring luncheon,” said Rogers.