For more than two decades, the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign has raised awareness about women’s greatest health threat – cardiovascular disease – which claims the lives of 1 in 3 women. The Association will hold its 2025 New Hampshire Go Red for Women Luncheon on February 12th at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord.

This event program, hosted by Erin Fehlau, News Anchor and NH Chronicle Host with WMUR-TV, and Marga Patterson, co-host of NH in the Morning with Neal and Marga on 95.7 WZID, will feature inspiring local survivor stories and a keynote medical speaker.The morning will begin with a pre-luncheducational session on the effects of lifestyles factors on cardiovascular health, presented by Javier Balda, MD, a cardiologist with Catholic Medical Center.


MaryBeth Vrees of Manchester, a former Fortune 500 marketing and strategic communications executive, will share her story of suffering a debilitating stroke at age 55. “When the ER doctor told me I had a stroke, I was stunned. It was the furthest thing from my mind. I don’t look or sound like a stroke survivor,” said Vrees. “My stroke was not in the area of the brain that controls motor skills or speech. That means I still have a voice to help people understand the often unseen, yet disabling, debilitating, and devastating effects of stroke.”

Kerrilynn Hennessey, MD, a cardiologist with Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center will provide the keynote address entitled, “Team-Based Care for Women’s Health: Insights from Dartmouth Health’s Cardio-Obstetrics Program”. Dr. Hennessey is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, Echocardiography, Nuclear Cardiology, and Cardiac Computed Tomography. Her practice and academic interests include echocardiography, healthcare quality, equity within the field of cardiovascular medicine, and the management of cardiovascular disease in women.
Jeannie Bolger, ambulatory director of nursing with Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, is the community volunteer chair of the 2025 New Hampshire Go Red for Women Luncheon. Bolger and her volunteer leadership team have set a goal to raise $150,000 to fight heart disease and stroke in women. The team includes the following members: Sharon Hartl, Encompass Health; Kathy LeClair, Ledyard Bank; Jennifer Maclaren, The Dew Collective; and Lisha Wallace, Northwestern Mutual.
Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States, claiming more lives each year than all forms of cancer combined and taking the life of one in every three women. Go Red for Women is a worldwide initiative of the American Heart Association designed to increase women’s heart health awareness and serve as a catalyst for change to improve the lives of women locally, nationally, and globally. Go Red for Women launched in 2004 to empower women to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease, which is on the rise in younger women.
Go Red for Women is nationally sponsored by CVS Health and locally sponsored by: Dartmouth Health; NH Women’s Golf Association Charitable Foundation; Encompass Health Rehab of Concord; Concord Hospital; Point 32 Health – Harvard Pilgrim; Bedford Ambulatory Surgical Center; and Elliot Hospital. The event’s media sponsors are: WMUR-TV; 95.7 WZID; New Hampshire Business Review and New Hampshire Magazine.
To register and for more information, visit: www.Heart.org/NHGoRed or email Rosemary.Hendrickx@Heart.org.