On Saturday, Jan. 6, AdventHealth Redmond and local health and wellness businesses hosted a health expo to kick off 2024 with a focus on wholeness.
The expo featured interactive exhibits, health and wellness sample giveaways, and a chance for participants to learn more about health-focused businesses, all for free. Held at the Courtyard by Marriott’s Etowah Ballroom, participants learned about local gyms, physical therapy, chiropractic services, massage therapy, med spas, health screenings, massages and upcoming fitness events for the coming year.
Teams from AdventHealth Redmond provided body fat composition screenings, information about primary care services, cardiology, neurosurgery, Sports Med & Rehab, lifestyle health tips based on its CREATION Life lifestyle principles and spiritual care information and resources. AdventHealth’s focus on overall health is exemplified in its tagline, “Feel Whole,” which means being physically healthy, mentally well, spiritually connected, and socially content.
The “Feel Whole” philosophy led metabolic and bariatric surgery coordinator Sarah Hunt to spearhead this idea and lift it off the ground in collaboration with various hospital departments and community partners.
“I think it’s important to not only support patients before surgery but after surgery as well with their health journeys. The idea (for this event) was to bring about 30 local vendors together in different sectors of health and wellness to have a space where both our patients and other people from our community could come and see what Rome has to offer from a health and wellness perspective,” said Hunt.
Helen Keefer, who learned about the event at the Rome-Floyd YMCA, enjoyed getting a free massage and learning more about the abundance of health resources available in Floyd County.
“This event was fantastic. I learned so many places I never knew existed in Rome. I’ve got appointments now and think this is the best thing I’ve done in Rome this year,” said Keefer.
Julie Smith, transportation and trails planner for the City of Rome, enthusiastically educated community members about trail updates and the new partnership with AdventHealth Redmond.
“2024 will be a big year for TRED. We have a partnership with AdventHealth Redmond Eco Greenway with signage that will be completed and installed later in the spring, which is very exciting. Then we have the completion of the Mount Berry Green Loop, which should happen by this summer; we’ve been enjoying reaching out to our TRED Heads and letting the public know about our trail system and the trail networks that our volunteers have built, as well as our upcoming Walk and Talks,” said Smith.
Emily Pate, health educator for northern counties of the district for the Floyd County Department of Health, was thrilled to share about public health services with the community.
“I think these events benefit our community so they can learn about our work. Because of COVID-19, many people assumed we only did vaccines, but we offer so much more than that. We’re trying to share about many of our programs, such as women’s and children’s health,” said Pate.
The vendors in attendance were pleased with the turnout and support from the community, and organizers are already planning for next year’s event. Vendors included:
Healing Hands Massage, Liberman Family Chiropractic, Orange Theory Fitness, YMCA, Rome Strength and Fitness, Spring Stone Yoga, Three Rivers Yoga Fest, wHydrate, Spartan Smoothies, Traveling Gypsies and Kava Den, Wolves Den (Calhoun), Relaxation Station, The Herb Shop, Dermaculture, WeCare Health and Wellness, Get Back Up Coach: Renea Attaway, Mindset & Body Reset: Lori Leonard NP, Stretch Rome, Relentless Chiropractic, Shift Physical Therapy, TRED Rome Floyd Co., Georgia Pelvic Floor and Wellness and The Floyd County Health Department. AdventHealth Redmond Cardiology, Neurosurgery, Primary Care, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Sports Medicine/Rehab Care and Spiritual/Emotional well-being.