The 5th annual Women’s Health Symposium, sponsored by the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation, was held on Tuesday, May 6th at Hanna Center. The topic of this year’s symposium was stress. The panel included Dr. Dena Dubal, Professor of Neurology at UCSF’s Weill Institute for Neurosciences and Dr. Elissa Epel, Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, at UCSF. Following presentations by Dr Dubal and Dr Epel, Dr Andrew Josephson, chair of the UCSF Department of Neurology, moderated an extensive Q and A session.
The Symposium is the only fundraising event that the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation holds annually. The funds raised go directly to funding Women’s Health initiatives at our community hospital. This includes Project Pink, which provides free Mammograms to those in our community who would not otherwise be able to afford them, as well as tools and equipment that our doctors, nurses and technicians need to provide specialty care for the women in our community. The funds raised from this year’s event will allow the Foundation to purchase a state of the art ultrasound system that will be used at our Hospital as a secondary screening tool for women with dense breast tissue.
SVHF Board member Cherie Hughes commented, “We are proud the Women’s Health Symposium is bringing cutting edge medical information to us right here in Sonoma. In previous years, with the help of our partners at UCSF, we’ve heard about new developments in the areas of sleep, heart health, and advances in dementia and Alzheimer treatments. This year the doctors shared great tips on managing stress and exciting advances on the horizon for increased longevity.” Hughes, also on the Symposium Steering Committee, continued, “I believe the Women’s Health Symposium’s biggest value is in helping us all be well informed on the latest information about what we can do now to stay healthy as we age.”…