In years past, South Peninsula Hospital had an exercise program that put walkers and doctors together, but like many group activities, it fell to the wayside in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Now, as Annie Garay, SPH’s community health and wellness educator told KBBI’s Jay Barrett, the program is coming back with a new name and a broader focus.
“So historically we the hospital has had the walk with a doc program and that has entailed indoor walking space at SPARC with a doctor giving a brief talk at the beginning of the event. So that program kind of been put on hold due to covid and some more variety of reasons there. And so we're getting this rebranded and up and going again and we're going to be using the new name of Wellness walks and that's gonna it's gonna look very similar. But we’re branding it with a different name kind of lends more opportunity for different types of collaboration and offerings to happen. So it won't necessarily be a doctor every time that's coming to the event to speak. We may have an information table. We may have somebody come speak on healthy foods and in-season Foods And how to cook a, cook a meal with what we have going right now. So we may have anywhere from like a nutritionists come in to somebody that practices yoga and can talk on mindfulness or perhaps the doctor who can come and speak on cardiovascular health. So there will kind of be a different variety of offerings at each, each event,” Garay said.
“Is there any cost of this, who can show up?” Barrett asked.
“So this is a free event. It's sponsored by South Peninsula Hospital in collaboration with assistance from the SPH Foundation. And anybody is welcome to show up, we encouraging or encouraging all ages and stages of folks. I know I'm bringing my grandma who's in her 80s, and she'll be showing up with her walker and there's plenty of space in room for folks who just want fast-paced walking slow-paced walking or want to come in with a wheelchair or any sort of assistive device that they may have, and it's a free event,” Garay said.
“Does one need a membership to SPARC at all,” Barrett asked.
“Nope. Don't need a membership to SPARC. Folks are free just to arrive and they don't even need to commit to the whole hour. So if folks just want to come and kind of feel it out and see what it's about," Garay said. "We welcome that and we also will be offering incentives just for showing up folks can throw their name into a hat and we'll have a couple prizes at each event for for different fun things. You can win this this month. It'll be coffee cards to local awesome coffee shops.
“So I guess we know where, when are these walks taking place,” Barrett asked.
“Gonna be the first and third Saturday of every month. At the spark building, from 9 to 10 am. So the next one is January 15th. So put it on your calendars. It's going to be a great event. It's a heated ice and snow-free Zone and as we know it's been pretty cold out there lately, so it'll be great to give folks an opportunity to to warm up and get active indoors,” Garay said.
The Wellness Walk will be kicking off in two Saturdays from now on January 15. Remember to bring dry and clean indoor shoes for the walk.
