Welcome to the Nanaimo Heart Sisters, a support group for women living on Central Vancouver Island, BC, who have experienced heart or stroke health issues.
Our group’s mission is to create a safe and supportive space for women of all ages who want to share their experiences about surviving heart disease or stroke incidents in their lives.
Did you know?
Heart disease and stroke are the #1 cause of premature death for women in Canada.
Heart disease and stroke claimed the lives of more than 32,200 women in Canada in 2019.
Every 17 minutes, a woman in Canada experiences a stroke. Out of a daily total of 85 women, 18 of them will die. In Canada, up to one-third more women die of stroke than men.
One-half of women who experience a heart attack have their symptoms go unrecognized.
Indigenous women have a 53 per cent higher death rate from coronary heart disease than non-Indigenous women.
Sources - from the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada:
Lives disrupted: The impact of stroke on women – 2018 Stroke Report
System failure: Healthcare inequities continue to leave women’s heart and brain health behind - 2023
HEART MONTH FEBRUARY 2026
Here are some interesting links to help you navigate Heart Month - February 2026. You can celebrate the month on February 13 on “Wear Red Canada Day”, apply to participate in a writing workshop focussing on your heart health or register for a variety of educational webinars. See the links below - with more to come in the next few weeks:
Writing the Heart: 6-Week Workshop Series, - January 29 to March 5 2026, 11:30 – 1:00pm EST. Limited to 15 participants.
HeartLife Canada's E3 webinar series: Engage. Educate. Empower. This series covers a variety of topics that feature patient partners discussing their specific lived heart experience alongside expert clinicians. Episode one and two are already available for viewing; Episode 3, which discusses healthy cholesterol management is available on February 3, 2026.
Help raise awareness about women’s heart health by celebrating the eighth annual Canadian Womens Heart Health Alliance Wear Red Canada day.
Fun Fact:
Did you know? The City of Nanaimo has proclaimed February 22, 2026 as “Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day”. For information, read more here.
NEWS ABOUT HEART DISEASE AND STROKE:
January 26, 2026 - My heart attack at 23 shows why screening matters
January 26, 2026 - What women need to know about their unique heart disease risk factors
January 20, 2026 - Global study to investigate how menopause shapes heart health - $10 million funding will support trial to identify opportunities for earlier heart disease prevention for women
January 18, 2026 - ‘We’re going to ask for a billion dollars’ Nanaimo health-care advocates heading to Ottawa
January 15, 2026 - Push for cath lab & patient tower at Nanaimo hospital including lobby groups, federal government meetings
January 3, 2026 - LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Heart and stroke patients understand need for cath lab
December 30, 2025 - Top Stories of 2025: Groundbreakings at Nanaimo hospital met with capital project frustrations
December 4, 2025 - Comment: Cardiac cath lab and patient tower needed at Nanaimo hospital
ADVOCACY EFFORTS FOR A CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION LAB AND PATIENT TOWER TO BE BUILT IN NANAIMO, BC
The advocacy campaign by Nanaimo community groups calling for a cardiac catheterization lab and patient tower to be built at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) received a major kickstart in early December 2025.
At a board meeting on December 9, 2025, the Nanaimo Regional Hospital District (NRHD) unanimously passed a motion stating it would cover all up-front construction costs for a cardiac catheterization lab so that it could be built immediately at NRGH. The proposed up-front financing would cover planning, construction, and equipping of a cath lab.
For a detailed explanation of the motion, which is being characterized as a loan to the BC provincial government, read this Nanaimo News Bulletin article: Nanaimo hospital district offering loan to expedite cardiac cath lab at NRGH.
Nanaimo Heart Sisters - Advocacy
The Nanaimo Heart Sisters support the Fair Care Alliance, a coalition of concerned medical, healthcare, business and community professionals and citizens who are leading the advocacy efforts to ensure fair access to health care for the 490,000 people living north of Victoria, in Central and North Vancouver Island. Specifically, the Alliance is advocating for a cardiac catheterization lab and patient tower to be built at an expanded NRGH.
In support of the Alliance’s efforts, the Nanaimo Heart Sisters submitted an opinion piece (an op-ed) to the Times Colonist newspaper calling for a cardiac catheterization lab to be built at NRGH. It was published in the newspaper on Dec. 4, 2025. You can read the op-ed here.
We also submitted a Letter to the Editor to the Nanaimo News Bulletin on the need for a cardiac cath lab in Nanaimo that was published in the newspaper’s print edition on Dec. 31, 2025, and in the paper’s online edition on Jan. 3, 2026. You can read the letter here.
FROM THE HEART & STROKE FOUNDATION:
January 5, 2026 - Sign up here for the monthly Healthline newsletter from the Heart and Stroke Foundation to receive healthy recipes, lifestyle tips and women’s health news
Heart & Stroke report: Winter 2026 Impact Report
Heart & Stroke report: Fall 2025 Impact Report
Stroke - “I am here for a reason.” Lynne’s Indigenous culture helped sustain her through a devastating stroke
Interesting links about how to prevent and manage heart disease and stroke:
Heart Sisters - For women living with heart disease, this website offers insight from the perspective of Carolyn Thomas, a Mayo Clinic-trained women's health advocate, heart attack survivor, blogger, author, speaker on the west coast of Canada
Mind Space - British Columbia - Skills for wellbeing, learning how to manage your mental health, and connect with community in a supportive space
Island Heart to Heart - All you need to know about cardiac rehabilitation
Feel Healthy with Dr. Scott Lear - Visit this blog written by a Vancouver-based professor at Simon Fraser University who conducts research into the prevention and management of heart disease focusing on supporting healthy lifestyles. Dr. Lear also holds the Pfizer/Heart and Stroke Foundation Chair in Cardiovascular Prevention Research at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC.
Latest Heart & Stroke research breakthroughs - Read about the work researchers are doing to beat heart failure and stroke
The impact of COVID-19 - Learn how the coronavirus has impacted people living with heart disease or stroke
Island Health - Heart Health Services - Find out about the Island Heath services for those living with cardiac disorders
The Nanaimo Heart Sisters meet on the third Saturday of every month. For information about time and location, contact Diane Shipclark at dshipclark@hotmail.com