HMG Health & Fitness Expo 2012 is planned for Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22, at the Convocation Center on the Arkansas State University campus. Hands down, it’s the biggest health awareness event in the region.
“This is the fifth expo, and we continue to refine the event and its activities, looking for ways to showcase what Northeast Arkansas has and at the same time delivering services to people in this region,” says Dr. William C. Young, Jonesboro otolaryngologist and founder of Healthcare Medical Group and the HMG Health and Fitness Expo.
“HMG Expo the premiere health and fitness event in the area – the only one sponsored by such a large physician group – and we encourage everyone to join us April 21 and 22. Take advantage of free health screenings, visit with HMG physicians, attend special panels, pick up on healthy cooking tips, take part in some of the fitness events such as Doc Rock and Run and experience HMG MegaBody Adventure.
“It’s our way of giving back, of making this a better place to live,” he continues. “We hope to see an even larger public turnout this year.”
Over the two-day period, physicians and vendors of health and fitness services will be assembled under one roof. Area residents can take advantage of free health screenings offered by St. Bernards Medical Center as well as screenings offered by HMG physicians at individual clinic booths on Saturday. They can attend a variety of physician-led panel discussions and get information on hundreds of health and fitness services available in Jonesboro.
The doors will open at 8 a.m. on Saturday, April 21. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 21 and 1 to 5 p.m. April 22.
HMG Doc Rock and Run half-marathon relay and 5K sponsored by Associated Radiologists will be the official kickoff event beginning at 7 a.m. April 21, with runners and walkers assembling on Alumni Boulevard near the Blue Entrance to the Convocation Center. The Expo half-marathon relay will benefit the St. Bernards Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Runners will be entertained by three local bands playing along the course route and cheered on by medical professionals and neonatal intensive care unit families. Doc Rock Band which is composed of local HMG doctors also will be set up at the start and finish of the relay. Participants for all three events will finish back at the Blue Entrance of the Convocation Center.
As soon as the doors open Saturday, area residents can take advantage of free St. Bernards health screenings that include mammograms, cholesterol, anemia, glucose, blood pressure and some prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing. In addition, HMG member physicians will offer foot, skin, hearing, memory and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) screenings. Take-home colorectal cancer screening kits also will be available. Screenings will be done on Saturday only.
The Kids Zone is bigger and better than any other previous Expo. MegaBody Adventure will be introduced for kids to walk through and learn how physical activity and healthy eating affects the body. Numerous other activities will be set up in the Kids Zone including bowling, Dance Dance Revolution, basketball toss, NFL Play 60 and critters from the Game and Fish Commission and Health, Wellness, and Environmental Studies Magnet School. There will also be a coloring station, gardening station, rock climbing wall and many more activities.
For the fifth year, Expo will offer onsite screening mammograms in the St. Bernards Mobile Women’s Health Unit. Women interested in mammograms should follow the pink ribbons to booth No. 32 inside the Convocation Center to register. Physicians with OB-GYN Associates & First Care will perform clinical breast exams for women who quality for mammograms. To qualify, women must be 40 years of age or older, be uninsured, be asymptomatic (have no breast problems) and must not have had a mammogram in the last 12 months. Mammograms are being funded through a grant from the Arkansas Affiliate Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
More than 150 vendors set up on the floor and on the mezzanine levels of the Convocation Center will have information on wide ranging health and fitness services available locally. Special areas will include a healthy cooking kitchen, where Saturday and Sunday demonstrations will be conducted on preparing food that’s both good and good for you. The senior zone will focus on health and wellness for the adult population. Inside the Fitness Zone a fitness assessment screening area will have trainers on hand to help you get started on an exercise program.
Special appearances at the Expo will include an autograph area featuring three former Red Wolves football players who are now in the NFL. These NFL players will participate at the Expo Saturday, April 21 – Bryan Hall of the Baltimore Ravens, M.D. Jennings of the Green Bay Packers and Alex Carrington of the Buffalo Bills. On Sunday, April 22, the ASU Sunbelt Champion football team will appear. Other ASU athletic team members will sign autographs throughout both days.
The Main Stage will be set up with performers and speakers providing entertainment and education throughout the two-day Expo. Speakers include physician-led panel discussions covering Senior Health issues, Cancer Awareness, Heart Health and Kid’s Health and Nutrition. Performers will include fitness programs, cheerleading programs, dance students and more. The stage also will be used to present awards for Doc Rock & Run half-marathon and 5K.
Another unique feature of Expo is that HMG physicians volunteer their time, along with staff from St. Bernards Sports Medicine to conduct free physical exams for student athletes from six Craighead County school districts – Bay, Brookland, Jonesboro, Nettleton, Valley View and Westside. St. Bernards Sports Medicine works with coaches in the six schools to be sure their athletes take advantage of the free physicals. This year, HMG and Cardiology Associates will perform electrocardiograms on all the athletes who will be in ninth through twelfth grades for the 2012-13 school year as a way to determine overall health of the athletes.
Platinum sponsors of Expo include Boston Scientific, Otolaryngology and Facial Surgery Centre, Jonesboro Advertising and Promotion Commission, Arkansas Mutual and St. Bernards Healthcare.
Gold sponsors are Absolute Care Management, Associated Radiologists, Gilmore Custom Kitchens, Medic One, Insurance Network and Lammico and Liberty Bank.
Silver sponsors are The Jonesboro Sun, St. Bernards Healthcare Associated Regional Providers, Soo’s Drugstore, KAIT, Jonesboro Occasions and Medtronic.
Bronze sponsors include ARCare, Barrett & Deacon Attorneys, Bennett’s Nursery, Diversicare, E.C. Barton and Co., Greenway Medical, HealthSouth, Hytrol, Integrity First Bank, Jonesboro City Water & Light, Jonesboro Prosthetic & Orthotic Lab, Kroger, Nicepak, Physician Sales and Services, Pruitt Promotions, Rainwater & Cox, Ritter Communications, Shinabery’s Compounding and Retail Pharmacy, Simmons First Bank, TCBY and Vision Care Center.
The weekend-long HMG Health & Fitness Expo has something for everyone and promises to heighten awareness about health and wellness while showcasing services and programs available here.
Additional information can be found on the HMG Expo web site at www.hmgexpo.com.