Yes! Now that cooler weather and autumn colors are finally here, I wanted to highlight two exciting October promotions that take a creative approach to better personal health and a healthier future for our entire community.

Each of us likely knows someone dear to us who has fought breast cancer.  According to the American Cancer Society, more than 250,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are diagnosed each year and breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in women (only lung cancer kills more). Fortunately, early detection efforts and prevention efforts have contributed to a decreasing death rate in recent years. Screening mammography is a vital part of those efforts and we join with Primary Care providers in encouraging you to have a mammogram on a regular basis as recommended by your provider.  To help call attention to this important preventive and lifesaving step, NMC Diagnostic Imaging is running our second annual “MAMMOtivation” promotion to encourage you to schedule your mammogram so it does not slip your mind later in the year.  I invite you to take a moment and think about what motivates you to invest in your own health – what is your mammotivation?  Your children? Your passion? Your desire for a healthy future? During the month of October, simply mention “mammotivation” when you call to schedule your mammogram (or come in for your mammogram), you will be registered to win a $300 pampering spa package at Mystic Waters Day Spa!  And please do not let concerns about finances be an obstacle to this important screening.  Did you know that you may qualify for a free mammogram?  NMC can connect you with resources through Ladies First and the Susan G. Komen Foundation to make sure you can get the preventive screening today.  It is also a pleasure to mention that Radiologist Dr. Jennifer Eaton, who has a special interest in women’s services and breast health, has joined the NMC Medical Staff.  To schedule your mammogram, call NMC Diagnostic Imaging at 524-1058 (or walk-in at our satellite location at Northwestern Urgent Care in Georgia where no appointment is necessary for a mammogram).  Remember – mention mammotivation and you will be entered to win some well-deserved pampering!

Autumn is also a great time to up and moving as part of a healthy lifestyle and the team at Northwestern Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Center, who do so much to help so many stay active, is celebrating mobility in October.   To encourage people to get moving and to celebrate healthy movement and mobility, they are hosting an online photo contest!  Submit a photo of you or someone you know (with their permission) that demonstrates mobility.  Entries will be posted online and the judging will be crowd-sourced (so you will also want to share your photos on Facebook and other social media an encourage all who see them to go to your official entry and vote for your photo!  The entry with the most votes as a celebration of healthy mobility will earn the top prize of a $250 gift certificate to Jay Peak, with second and third place earning a $100 and $50 gift certificate to Kevin Smith’s Sports Connection respectively. To learn more about Northwestern Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Center’s mobility photo contest, please visit: www.northwestern.org/photo-contest  The contest will be open to entries until October 17 and then voting will take place October 18 to November 4.  Join the fun.  Be mobile and celebrate it with a photo entered in this contest!  And for those of you who picked up on the name change, you are right!  To recognize the integration of NMC’s Orthopaedic practice and our Rehabilitation Services Department, they have come together as one team – the Northwestern Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Center!  It is a remarkable multi-specialty team whose expertise and dedication help keep our community moving – and mobility is key to keeping our lives full of the activities we love. Plus, they will be doing some “moving” of their own as they move the physician practice portion of their team into their exciting new, flexible, efficient space in the new Medical Office Building at the front of NMC’s campus on November 20.  Stay tuned for more information on that “move”!

Please, use this change of season to invest in your health.  Make sure you are up to date on all your preventive screenings, including mammography.  Take the time to be active during your week and enjoy the benefits of that mobility.  For additional opportunities to embrace a healthier lifestyle and bring more fun and fitness into your routine, visit www. RiseVT.com and join the movement as our community embraces healthier lifestyles for a healthier future!

— Jill Berry Bowen, NMC’s Chief Executive Officer