President and CEO of Medical Center Health System Russell Tippin can speak from personal experiences about the importance of having a healthy heart.
Tippin, who’s had heart surgery in the past, will be this year’s chairman of the 2022 Permian Basin Heart Walk.
This year’s event will take place at 9 a.m. Sept. 17 at MCH Center for Health and Wellness on 8050 Texas Highway 191.
“I’ve been involved in the heart walk and heart runs for a long time and it’s personal for me,” Tippin said. “I’ve had heart issues. I’ve had to have heart surgery so, no pun intended, it’s near and dear to my heart. It’s a big deal and I think it brings awareness to our community. It’s a good way to let people know that there is a way to take care of yourself and make sure your heart stays strong.”
Individual walkers and teams are invited to take part in the walk to celebrate heart and stroke survivors as well as raise funds and encourage physical activity.
Check-in will be at 8:30 a.m.
The event is put on by the American Heart Association. The presenting sponsor is MCHS.
“They’ve been the presenting sponsor for the past few years,” Corporate Market Director for the Permian Basin Heart Walk Ashley Quintana said.
A few items will be new at this year’s heart walk including a mega heart inflatable.
“It’s a huge walk-thru inflatable heart that comes with a person that walks you through it and tells you all the important stuff like the veins and which vessels in the heart does what. It’s really interesting. We’re super excited to have that this year. We’ll have a face painter. We’ll have a little tunnel for dogs. Dogs are welcomed as long as they’re on a leash but it’s a nice area for dogs that we’ll have out there and hopefully people will walk away with some education and are excited to live a healthy lifestyle and put down the sodas and cigarettes.”
Last year’s Permian Basin Heart Walk was the first to be held back in an in-person setting since the start of the COVID pandemic.
2020’s event was held virtually.
“It was broadcast on TV so we still got the message out,” Quintana said of the 2020 virtual event. “But an in-person event is still very meaningful. We’re super excited to come together and celebrate this super time to come together and do fundraising and showcase our survivors and volunteers.”
Since the start of the pandemic, the number of people working from home has increased and because of that, some people might not be getting the exercise needed to maintain a healthy heart.
“Coming out of COVID the past few years, a lot of people stayed home or started working from home and didn’t move a lot,” Quintana said. “There wasn’t a whole lot for people to do. But we just want to encourage people to get as much exercise as possible. Try to incorporate fruits and vegetables. That all eventually plays a big part in your health. Stay active and schedule doctor visits regularly so that if there is something, they can point that out and you can get it taken care of.”
For Tippin, there’s not a better time to have this year’s Permian Basin Heart Walk.
“One of the most appropriate times to have this, especially coming out of what we’ve been through with COVID, everybody’s concentrating on health and fitness,” Tippin said. “But let me tell you this, if you don’t have heart health, you don’t have anything. You have to protect your heart. You have to keep that heartbeat strong. It’s the motor and you have to put gas in the motor to have the motor running well. Without that heart health, you don’t have it and the rest of your health suffers if you don’t have good, consistent heart health.”
If you go
- What: Permian Basin Heart Walk.
- When: walk starts at 9 a.m. (check-in at 8:30 a.m.) Sept. 17.
- Where: MCH Center for Health and Wellness (8050 Texas Highway 191 in Odessa).
- Where to register: tinyurl.com/y3fu5f3k
