PORT JEFFERSON, NY – Paint Port Pink, Mather Hospital’s annual breast cancer awareness campaign, returns this year with a full calendar of events. The month-long breast health outreach by Mather’s Fortunato Breast Health Center raises awareness, provides educational information, and fosters solidarity in the community.
Paint Port Pink begins Tuesday, October 1 with a Turn on Your Lights event for local community partners and residents, who turn on pink lights that were distributed by the hospital along with flags and information on breast health. Many community partners decorate their display windows with a pink theme and Mather recognizes the best efforts through their annual window decorating contest.
New this year is Ladies Night Out at Comsewogue Public Library on Wednesday, Oct. 2, designed to celebrate women’s health by combining fun activities with wellness information. Participants can attend a mini-paint night, make their own body scrubs and get a back and neck massage by Mather-affiliated chiropractors. They can also learn about breast health from the Fortunato Breast Health Center’s Co-Medical Director Michelle Price, MD, participate in a Reiki circle, and get information on good nutrition for women from a Mather registered dietitian and sample healthy smoothies.
The Pink Your Pumpkin contest also returns this year. The contest asks participants to visit a local farm stand or craft store and find the perfect pumpkin, use their imagination to decorate, and then submit a photo to ccourt1@northwell.edu before Oct. 20. The top three winners will be selected by employee leaders at Mather Hospital on Oct. 21, and the results will be posted on Mather’s Facebook page.
Wear Pink Day is October 18 – which is World Mammography Day – when Mather employees and community residents are encouraged to dress in pink and post their photos at #paintportpink.
Paint Port Pink community partners will again offer special promotions and fund raisers for the Fortunato Breast Health Center’s Fund for Uninsured, which offers no cost or discounted mammography screenings to those with little or no insurance. These include Kilwin’s, Panera Bread, Chick-fil-A, Amazing Olive and Ethan Allen Furniture, Setauket.
The Fall semester of HealthyU, Mather’s seminar series and exhibit fair, is on Saturday, October 26. The day will feature many informative seminars including Women and Heart Health, the Brittle Bones of Osteoporosis, a Checklist for Health after 60, Tax Tips for Seniors, and Staying Young Forever. Register for this free event at https://www.matherhospital.org/healthyu-registration/
For more information about Paint Port Pink, go to www.matherhospital.org/pink or 631-476-2723.
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About Mather Hospital
Mather Hospital is an accredited 248-bed, non-profit community teaching hospital dedicated to providing a wide spectrum of high-quality healthcare services to Suffolk County residents, showing compassion and respect and treating each patient in the manner we would wish for our loved ones. Mather has earned the prestigious Magnet® recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), which recognizes healthcare organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. Mather has received 13 “A” ratings for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group. No other hospital in New York State has received more top ratings. For further information about Mather Hospital, visit www.matherhospital.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/matherhospital.
About Northwell Health
Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, about 750 outpatient facilities and more than 13,600 affiliated physicians. We care for over two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 70,000 employees – 16,000-plus nurses and 4,000 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners – are working to change health care for the better. We’re making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. We’re training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.