Richmond Heights is gearing up for wellness this weekend as they launch their free Health & Wellness Fair on February 7th.
The annual event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at the Richmond Heights Community Center, 27285 Highland Road, and will provide resources on nutrition, pharmacy services, aging and senior health services.
Flu vaccinations, COVID-19 shots, bio-metric health checks and other health services will also be available, amid chats with health care professionals and a chance to speak to the city’s community paramedic to find out what services are offered locally.
Recreation Director Cameron Campbell said the program goes beyond connecting people to health services, but is also a social event for those looking to escape the winter weather.
She said sometimes people can feel overwhelmed by the healthcare system and the fair tries to help. For example, this year, he will show how to navigate University Hospitals “MyChart” software so that senior citizens and anyone else who needs information can become familiar with it.
“We have a large number of organizations and companies coming to make the community aware of the resources,” Campbell said. “That’s really what it’s all about; making sure they understand the resources that are available to them.
“At the senior programming we do every Monday, some seniors actually asked me if I could help them with their MyChart,” Campbell added. “I was able to help her, but we had a UH representative come and say we could offer a (session) to really help.
“The response from women was saying that they wished they had gotten this help earlier, so that kind of jogged the memory of the mayor and I that maybe we should bring this together.”
Campbell said this is the clinic’s third year and he was expecting better attendance than last year and hoped the new city app, Richmond Ready, would help promote it among residents.
“People come and go, it’s an open door,” Campbell said. “Last year we didn’t really get the attendance we wanted. But I told the mayor we’re going to really step it up this year, so that’s what we’re trying to do.”
