Health and wellness will take center stage tomorrow at the 4th annual Starke County Community Health Fair. It’s sponsored by Community Services of Starke County and IU Health Starke Hospital. Several free health screenings will be offered. Hospital marketing director Ted Hayes says that’s consistent with the hospital’s “preventive medicine” mission statement. He notes the two top causes of death in the United States are hypertension and diabetes and says both are silent killers.
The health fair will get under way at 2 p.m. at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox with a group PyIo fitness class. It’s a combination of Pilates and yoga which helps to strengthen the mind and body and improve your cognition.
IU Health Starke Hospital has been a health fair partner for the past four years. However, Community Services of Starke County Executive Director Joan Haugh says it actually started in 1997. Prior to the local event, Haugh says her agency would send seniors to the governor’s conference on aging in Indianapolis to learn about nutrition and receive screenings. Due to the cost and time factors, Haugh says they decided to host their own health fair instead with various programs and educational opportunities.
The health fair is open to all ages. In addition to the screenings, IU Health will set up a 12-foot inflatable colon, and several medical professionals will give presentations on various medical conditions. A number of vendors will also be set up. The health fair runs from 2 until 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13.
