Franciscan St. Francis Health puts new spring into the steps of TFC patients

The Trinity Free Clinic is thrilled to announce the generous gift of 80 pedometers from the Franciscan St. Francis Health network.  This comes in response to a need identified by Trinity Free Clinic nurse practitioner Summer Steenburg.  Summer found that she had seen several patients struggling with obesity and conditions directly related to a sedentary lifestyle.  She felt that providing them with pedometers and related health education could greatly improve their overall wellness.

In 2010, the Surgeon General of the United States estimated that as many as 112,000 annual deaths could be prevented by better managing disorders that are linked to obesity, such as hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.  Adults should have at least two and a half hours of moderate aerobic exercise each week, and many experts recommend that we all take at least 10,000 steps per day.

The pedometer donation comes in conjunction with Franciscan St. Francis Health’s title sponsorship of the Trinity Free Clinic 5K and is only the most recent of initiatives in the ongoing partnership between the Trinity Free Clinic and Franciscan St. Francis Health.  They have also generously supported our car seat clinic with a strategic grant that will help us to provide car seats to patients who are unable to provide the proper car seat for their children.  Grants from Franciscan St. Francis Health and St. Vincent allow us to host a car seat clinic the first Saturday of every month from 8 a.m. - noon.  Ann Gallagher from the Carmel Police Department personally installs and inspects each car seat.

Click here to learn more about how Franciscan St. Francis Health continues to support our community.  To learn more about how you can improve your wellness and get on the road to taking your own daily 10,000 steps, you can visit Shape Up America!