May 7 is the American Heart Association’s 2016 Heart Walk, and the UNMC community is invited to participate.
The event will be held at Miller’s Landing, 151 Freedom Park Road.
Events include:
- 7 a.m : Heart Walk Village opens
- 8 a.m.: Kids Heart Challenge
- 9 a.m.: Opening ceremonies
- 9:30 a.m.: Official start of the Heart Walk
Employees can sign up here to participate and make an optional donation at the event.
UNMC and Nebraska Medicine are sponsors of this year’s walk, and UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., is honorary chair for the event.
“It’s been an incredible privilege to work with a very broad spectrum of members of our community who are all focused on heart health — trying to have better prevention, support research, and create awareness about heart disease in our community.”
Lisa Runco, executive director of Cardiology and Digestive Disease and Kidney for Nebraska Medicine, and a member of the executive leadership team for the 2016 Heart Walk, invited the med center community to participate.
Not only does the event support UNMC and Nebraska Medicine directly, Runco said, “but it also promotes collegiality amongst the employees, gets them together for a fun event on hopefully a really nice day, the first Saturday in May … we just thought this was a great fit for our employees.”
UNMC and Nebraska Medicine have set a goal of 1,000 walkers, including employees, family members and patients.
As the American Heart Association’s signature fundraising event, the Heart Walk promotes physical activity and heart-healthy living in a fun corporate, community and family environment. In 2015, the Omaha-Council Bluffs Heart Walk raised $601,000 and engaged more than 75 companies and 5,000 participants.