Aiken Regional Medical Centers hosts mental health fair

Win Hammond, Aiken Standard, S.C.
Updated ·2 min read

May 22—A local medical center hosted a mental health wellness fair Tuesday.

Aiken Regional Medical Centers curated the Minds Matter Mental Health & Wellness Fair where more than a dozen vendors showed off mental health resources available to employees, patients and visitors.

Crystal Mock, director of Critical Care Services at Aiken Regional, founded the Minds Matter committee to destigmatize mental health care for healthcare workers.

"We are often called superheroes," Mock said. "We're always supposed to be ok and that we're supposed to be the ones helping everyone."

Around 46% of healthcare employees reported feeling burned out in 2022, according to a 2023 Center for Disease Control and Prevention study.

"I think there's been this idea that we help other people overcome their stressors and anxieties in life," Mock said. "Firefighters and first responders, military all have that same type of idea that we are the ones protecting and helping other people — the services are for them, not for us."

Vendors included Aurora Pavilion Behavioral Health Services, Club Pilates Aiken and Gerideau's Massage & Bodywork.

Some employees stopped by for a massage and entered the raffle for gift baskets chock-full of snacks and treats.

Mock said she organized the fair during May specifically for mental health awareness month, and plans on organizing a larger community fair during suicide prevention month in September.

Andrea Gregory, director of Business Development for Aurora Pavilion Behavioral Health and also an Aiken City Councilwoman, helped showcase the services Aurora provides.

Gregory said that many of the Medical Centers' employees are "in the trenches." They save patients' lives for the sake of the patients' sons, daughters and other loved ones, she said.

It's an important job that is taxing on workers' mental health.

"We truly care about our patients and their well being," Gregory said. "But first and foremost, we have to make sure that our staff is taken care of too."