Janie Keilwitz wants people to take control. This month she’s hoping to give it to them. Keilwitz is the coordinator for Whidbey General Hospital’s Heart Wise program, and during February —designated nationally as Cardiac Awareness and Heart Education Month — she’s on education overdrive.

A program of Whidbey General Hospital’s Life Center for Essential Wellness, Keilwitz’s job as Heart Wise coordinator and community educator is no easy task.

“I want to get the word out about cardiac health to as many people as possible, and sometimes once isn’t enough,” she said.

Through the Heart Wise community outreach program, Keilwitz has spoken to over 1,000 people since the program’s official start-up in May 2003.

The Heart Wise program has two key components: heartwise health screenings and cardiac education classes. The screenings include a complete lipid panel to test cholesterol and glucose levels, as well as education to teach participants how to make a change in their health. Community education is offered year-round at the hospital, to local organizations and at special events such as a series of classes that will occur this month at Island Athletic Club in Freeland.

Freeland resident Naomi Buzard, 81, sat and listened to Keilwitz’s presentation on stroke and angina Wednesday at Island Athletic as a form of continuing education. Her husband “Buz”, now 75, suffered a heart attack in 2001 and had a triple bypass surgery.

“It scared the hell out of me,” she said. “He went through rehabilitation afterwards and we adjusted our diets and exercise, but I wanted to get told what to do again.”

The heartwise screenings, Keilwitz said, help address the population of people who haven’t seen a doctor in a while, don’t have cholesterol screenings covered by insurance, are new to the island and without on-island care, or don’t have a doctor — but, as Keilwitz said, should be used as a supplement and not in place of a doctor’s care.

Of the 87 patients seen through the screenings last year, Keilwitz said 17 percent were referred back to a physician’s care.

“Our goal is to get them connect with care before their is a problem,” she said.

But many people put off checking their heart health or going to the doctor because there doesn’t always appear to be a problem, Keilwitz said.

Dorothy Moore, now 83, was the picture of health. She ate a healthy diet, didn’t smoke, and often went on walks. But after her husband became ill in the late 1980s she began to feel differently and would often get unusually tired. In 1990 the reality of her symptoms hit when she suffered a massive heart attack and underwent open heart surgery.

Moore was lucky. The American Heart Association reports that heart attack is the number one killer of women, saying that of the 500,000 heart attack deaths occurring each year over 233,000 are women and more than 87,000 women die each year of stroke.

Combined with statistics about other heart and blood vessel diseases, heart disease, also referred to as cardiac disease is a leading national killer.

For the Coupeville resident, her condition was genetic. Both of Moore’s parents had predisposed heart conditions, and she lost three brothers to genetically passed down traits.

“After my surgery they said a couple of veins that weren’t connected properly but my stress aggravated my condition,” she said.

After another stroke last December, Moore is now a patient enrolled in the Cardiac Wellness program at Whidbey General Hospital’s Life Center.

For Moore, the center gives security to a once independent, active woman.

She’s learned to watch her diet and not over-exert herself — which can be a tough thing not to do for this mother of four, grandmother to eight and great-grandmother to two.

“The hardest thing for me was to have to slow down,” she said.

Carla Vier, Cardiac Wellness nurse and co-program coordinator said, “We always joke with her and tell her she can leave when she can climb that tree out there.”

The Life Center for Essential Wellness at Whidbey General Hospital is staffed by three registered nurses — co-program managers Michelle Renniger and Carla Vier, and Health Wise coordinator Janie Keilwitz — as well as an exercise physiologist and respiratory therapist. It offers outpatient care that includes education on cardiac issues, nutrition and fitness, guided exercise programs, and community education and outreach.

Its cardiac and pulmonary wellness programs require a physician’s referral for the combination of education and monitored exercise facilitated by an exercise physiologist and registered nurse. It is meant to teach participants to strengthen their heart and take care of it for the rest of their lives.

“Heart diseases really are some of the more preventable and manageable health problems in America,” said Jay Bryan, Island Athletic general manager. “Lifestyle, exercise, and nutrition are the key interventions.”

Bryan should know. He has a masters in human performance and has worked in cardiac rehabilitation as an exercise physiciologist.

“I estimate that at least a third of our membership comes to our club for the primary reason of either preventing, managing, or rehabing from a heart related problem,” he said. “It’s a big concern and it’s fulfilling to be involved in the process of people changing their lives toward a more healthy outcome.”

Heart concerns also aren’t just for the older crowd. While the staff doesn’t keep a strict list of why people are coming to the club, Bryan does say his staff reports customers often say they want to add exercise for health reasons.

“It’s not just 50-, 60-, or 70-somethings,” he said. “You’d be surprised by the number of people in their early 30s who are aware or concerned of heart disease.”

But even in a population where people are increasingly aware of their heart health, Bryan says there still remains a prevalent problem.

“They need to recognize they might have a problem, know what they need to change and go do something about it,” Bryan said.