Rio hosts ‘Health Fair’

RIO GRANDE, Ohio – The University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College will host their annual Health Fair, Thursday, April 20, in the Davis University Center’s Conference Room C from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Amy Weaver, secretary for the Student Affairs Office, said the event provides students, faculty, staff and the community with the opportunity to learn more about living a healthier lifestyle from health care professionals in the area.

“This gives both our students and the community the opportunity to gain health knowledge without any cost,” Weaver said. “This is such a wonderful thing, and it’s so important as an educational institution to provide this to our area.”

The theme for this year’s Health Fair is “Travel the World in Good Health” and will include free health screenings for cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and bone density by Holzer Health System. Director of Health Services, Marlene Childers, BSN, RN, said she feels it is important to promote healthy living and medical knowledge to the community.

“This event is an educational outreach where we are able to provide basic preventive medicine and medical screenings to our community,” Childers said. “Certain tests can get expensive in clinics and hospitals. This gives us the opportunity to provide a service to the students and community, free of charge, that they may not have been able to otherwise receive.”

Other activities during the event include an Army National Guard Rock Wall, a line dancing class and over 50 health service organizations from the four-county area attending to share health information such as nutritional, skin care and exercise advice.

“Our goal with the Health Fair is to promote health and wellness topics and discussion on campus and in the community by interacting with these different stations. The idea is to encourage a healthy lifestyle in all aspects of daily life,” Childers said. “We want everyone who comes through to walk away with new knowledge of health, wellness and prevention. We hope this event continues to grow each year.”

To follow the traveling theme for this year, attendees will get a “passport” to take to each station and turn in after gaining new health knowledge. For more information on the Health Fair, contact Marlene Childers or Amy Weaver at 740-245-7350.