For Immediate Release
October 22, 2004
Contact: Diane B. Gribbin
732-530-2282
dgribbin@meridianhealth.com

STEPPIN’ OUT IN RED BANK LAUNCHED BY RIVERVIEW MEDICAL CENTER AND RED BANK RIVERCENTER

Themed walks promote heart health activity while taking walkers around the sites of Red Bank.

Red Bank, NJ - Riverview Medical Center and Red Bank RiverCenter, along with several Red Bank businesses have teamed up to promote heart healthy exercise, launching a new walking program that highlights various sites around Red Bank. The program, called Steppin’ Out in Red Bank, is a series of five themed walks that participants can take anytime. Chaired by Riverview cardiologist, Roland Belluscio, M.D., Steppin’ Out was launched on Saturday, October 16th with 40 “heart healthy exercise ambassadors” from the community, Riverview’s Community and Senior Services, and RiverCenter, all spreading out around Red Bank on self-guided walking tours.

“Cardiovascular disease remains the #1 killer of men and women in the United States, effecting over 64,000,000 Americans each year,” says Dr. Belluscio. “Most Americans don’t get enough exercise and we all pay a very high cost for this sedentary lifestyle in terms of heart disease and other serious illnesses.” In fact, explains Dr. Belluscio, obesity and poor physical fitness is quickly becoming the one of the leading causes of preventable death.

But a mere 30 minutes of regular daily exercise, along with proper nutrition, is all that it takes to start establishing a heart healthy lifestyle. And this is the purpose of Steppin’ Out in Red Bank. Steppin’ Out includes five mapped out walking routes: New View, Broad Street Basics, Monmouth Street Meander, Navesink Riverside Ramble, and West Side Walk-a-thon, with each walk taking participants on a variety of self-guided tours throughout Red Bank. The tours are sponsored by local merchants: Metrovation, Smoothy King, Two River Theater, and the Red Bank Visitors Center, and show off Red Bank’s great sites, and unique local businesses.

“We really have a unique situation in Red Bank,” says Tricia Crosby, RN, a nurse educator with Riverview’s Community and Senior Services and Steppin’ Out coordinator. “Here we have a hospital, whose goal it is to promote good health, sitting right in the middle of beautiful town, that is absolutely perfect for walking. It’s a collaborative opportunity Riverview and RiverCenter could just not pass up and we hope members of our community will take advantage of this fun and healthy program by fitting a walk into their day, and taking the first step toward better health.”

To obtain specially designed postcards laying out each of the self-guided walking routes contact Riverview’s Community and Senior Services at 732-530-2552 or RiverCenter at 732-842-4244. Each postcard includes directions, step count, mileage, time required, tips, information about walk sponsors, and a little history about each tour route.

Riverview Medical Center, a member of the Meridian Health Family, is a 517-bed non-profit community hospital located in Red Bank, New Jersey, providing health care programs and services in all major medical disciplines, including maternity; oncology; orthopedics and rehabilitation; general, neuro, thoracic and vascular surgery; cardiology; renal dialysis; diabetes management; and emergency and critical care services. Riverview’s Booker Cancer Center is an affiliate of the renowned Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, and Riverview is home to the only fully accredited acute comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation center in Monmouth County. In addition, its Women & Children’s Pavilion maintains one of the largest numbers of births in Monmouth County. For more information about Riverview Medical Center and Meridian Health, please call the Meridian Health Line at 1-800-560-9990 or visit www.meridianhealth.com.

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