Nearly 5,000 screened for 'Heart of New Ulm'

There's a revolutionary new health project taking place right here in Minnesota that's changing the pulse of an entire community. 

Today The Heart of New Ulm celebrates a first anniversary tonight and 40-year-old Cindy Wall will be there.

Wall says, "My dad had quadruple bypass surgery and so I thought we'll, I'm going to do something about it now so I don't have to end up like him."

She is one of thousands in New Ulm who had their heart health screened through the Heart of New Ulm project.

In her screening, Wall says, "There were some numbers that were a little bit higher so I decided I would try to get in shape."

She vowed to run a 5k this year and she just kept running.  She says, "I did four races.  I did a two mile and three 5K's."

The ultimate goal of the ten year program is reduce and eventually eliminate heart attacks in this city.  So far, nearly 5,000 adults in New Ulm have been screened.

On-site medical director for the program, Dr. Charles Stephens is encouraged by how many have been screened.

But Stephens says, "The data part way through the screenings showed that unfortunately New Ulm is running a little bit worse than the national average as far as rates of obesity and high blood pressure, diabetes, those things."

The program will provide opportunities to help residents manage weight and make better food choices, and offer a program to track key heart health indicators for those at highest risk of heart attack.

Stephens says, "We hope that what we can do over the next ten years is show certain interventions that can really make a big difference for a whole community."

Wall has seen success and says, "I've got some muscles now and I'm pretty happy about that.  And I've also lost ten pounds since May."

She feel's she's not the only one moving to a healthier beat.  She says, "I think I've seen more people out running and more people exercising, which is good to see."

Wall will join Bob Harper, trainer from NBC's Biggest Loser, as they both speak at the Heart of New Ulm summit tonight.

Allina Hospitals and Clinics, the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, New Ulm Medical Center and the City of New Ulm are all behind the project. 

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