Wearing bright orange shirts emblazoned with the “U,” hundreds of people from UHealth — the University of Miami Health System — showed their support for fighting heart disease in our community.
More than 600 signed up to be part of Team UHealth and take part in the annual three-mile walk/run hosted by the Miami-Dade County chapter of the American Heart and Stroke Association (AHSA) at Museum Park in downtown Miami in November.
The weather cooperated long enough for the participants to learn more about the importance of a healthy lifestyle that includes no smoking, healthy eating and regular exercise. Heart disease remains the No. 1 cause of death in men and women in the nation, claiming more lives than all forms of cancer combined.
Participants were able to learn their risk for heart disease and stroke by taking the free UHealthAware screenings offered before and after the walk.
This year, UHealth was the proud “My Heart. My Life.” sponsor, led by UM’s renowned neurologist Dr. Ralph L. Sacco, who also is a former national president of the American Heart Association, and Dr. Steven Falcone, MD, MBA, executive dean for Clinical Affairs and CEO of UHealth Clinical Practice, and member of the AHSA Heart Walk Executive Leadership team.
Sacco highlighted the importance of AHSA funding in research, saying it has “enabled us to continue our work to eradicate the devastation of heart disease and stroke.”
In 2016, UHealth will be the Healthy Living sponsor, and Falcone will serve as the chair of the Miami-Dade AHSAHeart Walk.
