Heart luncheon raises a record $273,000

Published 1:40 pm Monday, March 2, 2026

PORT ANGELES — To improve your health or change your lifestyle, a cardiologist told a crowd of 410 people before the Red, Set Go luncheon, attendees heard from a woman who died three times before she received a new heart.

Most of the audience at Friday’s luncheon jumped to their feet and applauded Robin (Tweter) Presnelli of Port Angeles after she described undergoing a heart transplant in 2024.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Presnelli concluded, “pay attention to your heart and your health.

“And that’s it.”

The Olympic Medical Center Foundation fundraiser for the OMC Heart Center netted a record-breaking $273,000 to upgrade the cardiac ultrasound systems of the OMC Heart Center. In 2025, it raised $266,000.

Lifestyle program

In addition to the survivor’s tale from Presnelli, attendees at the 19th annual Red, Set Go luncheon heard comments from keynote speakers Leonard Anderson, heart center director, and Dr. Ajay Joseph, director of the Lifestyle Medicine Program at St. Francis Health System in Tulsa, Okla.

The upgrade of the cardiac ultrasound systems will extend the life of the system, which serves a growing number of patients, Anderson said. It includes a new ultrasound transducer that will improve imaging in both 2D and 3D.

The packed hall at the Vern Burton Community Center also raised money for the OMC Healthcare Scholarship Fund.

George Brown, a longtime supporter of OMC, matched gifts up to $100,000, it was announced.

“What’s significant about Red, Set Go is that it not only raises significant revenue for the Olympic Medical Center, but it also saves lives,” said Bruce Skinner, OMC Foundation executive director.

“That is done through the purchase of life-saving equipment and by annually having a speaker who inspires us to lead healthier lives,” he added.

Joseph, an interventional cardiologist, told of his trail-blazing work in Tulsa, where he and his staff offer patients ways to curb their risks for chronic diseases by dealing with the root causes.

Lifestyle medicine aims to cuts the risk of chronic disease, which is responsible for some 85 percent of what is seen in hospitals, Joseph said.

“Six in 10 have chronic disease,” Joseph said. “Forty percent of people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifespan. One in three have diabetes and most don’t know it.”

He said that six pillars of care connect all chronic diseases, whether they primarily affect the heart or brain or kidneys or other organs. People can cut their risks by paying attention to each of those pillars: Nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management, risky substance abuse and social connections.

The staff in his program offer patients not only advice but also instruction, such as cooking and exercise classes.

“Food can be medicine,” Joseph said. “Food can be poison as well.”

He advised eating three to four servings of fruits and vegetables daily, as well as consuming legumes.

“Beans are your best friend,” Joseph said.

He added that poor sleep is as big a risk factor for heart disease as diabetes, isolation is as big a risk factor as smoking, and alcohol is related to about 60 medical conditions.

His staff talks with patients about making small changes that can be integrated into their lives. Attempts at large changes are likely to fail.

Lifestyle changes have been shown to cut cancer risk by some 20 percent and Alzheimer’s by 50 percent.

“Exercise is almost twice as good as any statin,” he said.

Joseph said there is a shift happening in medicine now, with lifestyle medicine getting more attention.

“The tide is changing, fortunately,” he said.

This was the third time Presnelli had spoken at the Red, Set Go luncheon, although the first two times, she was known as Robin Tweter, a mother of two sons, a local businesswomen who owned Round Up A Latte on U.S. Highway 101, a fixture at Togas before it was sold and later at Country Aire, and a Babe Ruth baseball volunteer.

In 2008, she delivered the first survivor account of the now-annual heart health luncheon after she was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which can lead to heart failure.

In 2019, she spoke again after a defibrillator implanted in her chest saved her life.

That was the first time she died. She died twice more before she received a heart transplant at University of Washington Medical Center.

Presnelli described being wheeled down a long hall for transplant surgery. All the people who had taken care of her were lined up on either side with cards and cheers.

“They’re giving you a parade,” she said. “I felt at that moment that I was being held. It was a party.”

Presnelli introduced herself and asked who was there. The staff introduced themselves, and to the strains of “Landslide,” she was put under and awakened 24 hours later to begin recovery.

Presnelli praised staff at both UW and at OMC and all the members of the community who helped her after the transplant.

She minimized her own travail, which included treatment for hepatitis and another virus that her heart had.

“It was an easy recovery,” she said.

For more information about OMC Foundation programs, see www.omhf.org, call 360-417-7144, or stop by the OMC Foundation office at 1015 Georgiana St., Port Angeles.

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Leah Leach is a former executive editor for Peninsula Daily News.