By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY—St. Vincent’s One Nineteen marked 10 years of promoting and supporting wellness in the community with a block party on June 13. From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., members of the community were invited to join St. Vincent’s One Nineteen for games, food, music and hot air balloon rides.

The Block Party and Health Festival is an annual tradition at St. Vincent’s One Nineteen and a way to show appreciation to the community, St Vincent’s Health System Senior Vice President Neeysa Biddle explained.

“(The block party) just shows our appreciation,” Biddle said. “This year is very special to us because it’s our 10th anniversary.”

The celebration included fun and healthy activities for the whole family both outside on the St. Vincent’s campus and inside. Attendees enjoyed bubble soccer, hula hooping, face painting, rock climbing, a 70-foot inflatable obstacle course and tethered hot air balloon rides, to name a few activities. Act of Congress performed live music throughout the event.

St. Vincent’s One Nineteen also offered a number of free health services, including cholesterol and glucose screenings, hearing and vision screenings and blood pressure screenings. Physical therapy assessments were offered free of charge. Mammograms were also offered for a discounted rate of $99.

In addition to marking 10 years of wellness in the community, the June 13 St. Vincent’s Block Party and Health Festival celebrated the facility’s 40,000 square-foot expansion project.

The expansion will allow St. Vincent’s One Nineteen to offer more services to the community, including additional physician office space, urgent care and an ambulatory surgery center, Biddle said.

The campus already sees around 2,000 cars each day, and Biddle said she hopes to see continued growth with the completion of the expansion project.

“It’s just been an amazing thing to watch, to see how (St. Vincent’s One Nineteen) has matured and developed,” Biddle said.