Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the new Chambers County Community Health and Wellness Center in LaFayette on Saturday. 

Mayor Kenneth Vines, County Commissioner Debra Riley and Auburn University President Chris Roberts were among those speaking at the event. 

Other project members from Auburn University spoke during the event including Dr. Hollie Cost, Assistant Vice President for University Outreach and Public Service; Dr. Royrickers Cook,

Vice President for University Outreach and Associate Provost; Dr. Mike Phillips, Director of Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Mr. Howard Gruverman, CCO of OnMed.

Over 100 attendees were at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. According to Chambers County Extension Coordinator Rachel Snoddy, many people from the community also attended, drawn in by the balloons.

“We had a really great turnout. It was nice to see all the support,” Snoddy said. “So we were excited about the crowd.”

LaFayette local catering Krave Korner provided catered the event. Auburn University students also performed free health screenings for the public. This is one of the services that the center plans to provide. 

“We had some students and faculty from Auburn that were doing some health screenings and we had hearing screenings going on as well as some nursing students out there doing some like health checks and things like that,” Snoddy said. “So people were able to get a sample about what kind of stuff we’ll have offered out at the center.”

Those who came out got the chance to take a tour of the OnMed healthcare and the center ahead of the open house on Wednesday. 

The center has hosted demonstrations of the station for the past several weeks. OnMed provided a free trial period to community members for exams through May 1. However, Snoddy said that the free visits to the care station have been extended to July 1. 

“That’s a huge asset to have some sort of free health service for those extra months for our community,” Snoddy said.

The open house on Wednesday will be open to the whole community with entertainment for families. 

“With the open house, it’s more community-oriented and family-oriented and more casual,” Snoddy said. “So I’m hoping on Wednesday with the open house, we can get even more people out there that are local, who can get a chance to see what all is going on at the center and what the OnMed station is doing … I’m hoping this gives them kind of a chance to feel comfortable to just come on in and stop by.”