Following a three year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Portage held its 21st annual Senior Health Fair this Thursday at Woodland Park. Sponsored by the Mayor’s Senior Advisory Committee and open to the whole Region, an abundant number of senior citizens attended the free event.
The annual event was originally designed to spread information and awareness to senior citizens about their health, as well as to provide free health screenings and services from a plethora of local businesses and institutions from around the region. Taking place for the first time in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the public took advantage of the opportunity to learn more about their health and the services available to them from a number of vendors. The health fair was followed by a luncheon for all attendees.
Portage Mayor Sue Lynch became involved with this annual event during her 12 years serving on Portage’s City Council. When she took over as the mayor in 2019, it was one of her priorities to help this event grow and continue to thrive.
“We try to make it all about health,” she said. “I really love to see us having this. We were sad that because of COVID we were unable to have this event, and we saw what a toll it took on our senior population. This is one of the premier things that we do. This event is about looking out for our senior citizens and bringing them good ideas about their health.”
Dozens of vendors were in attendance today, offering services and information on various parts of health. The vendors brought along with them free food, raffles, screenings, and access to information directly from professionals in the health field.
“We’re here today providing free blood pressure screenings and a cardiac risk assessment, as well as information on services provided such as stroke awareness, heart health awareness, decreasing blood pressure, and health food recipes,” said Katie Sarver, manager of community programs and wellness outreach with Northwest Health. “Community events, especially health and wellness related, are super important because they bring awareness to a bunch of different issues. To be able to ask questions, get information that’s true and accurate, and talk to a trustworthy individual face-to-face is really helpful for our senior citizens.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a halt on the event, mental health awareness grew and the isolation caused by the pandemic hit the senior community especially hard. This event opening back up gave many senior citizens the opportunity to learn more about their mental health.
“COVID took a toll on mental health due to the isolation that many people felt throughout the pandemic,” said Margot Leabo, director of business development with Neuro Behavioral Hospital. “Events like today let seniors and adults in the community know there is a place for them to go if they feel distraught. It’s not the end of their life, and there’s places like Neuro Behavioral Hospital out there to help and support them.”
One of the largest health fairs in the area, a variety of vendors were present to engage with the community and help others learn more about their health and the resources that are readily available.
“It’s nice to be able to engage with members of the community,” said Cortnee Montgomery, vice president of operations with Meridian Medical Services. “It’s really important to network and make sure that patients are taken care of, and to be able to offer these services to them both through our home base practice and our preventative services programs that we offer.”
For more information on the City of Portage's annual health fair, email aarmstrong@portage-in.com.
