Intermountain Health St. Mary’s and Community Partnership Works to Empower Young Girls

July 03, 2025 at 11:42 AM EDT

Intermountain Health St. Mary’s Regional Hospital is empowering young girls in Mesa County, Colo. through community partnership

(PRUnderground) July 3rd, 2025

Young girls are learning to shape their health and future through nurturing confidence, resilience, and well-being thanks to meaningful collaborations and innovative programs at Intermountain Health St. Mary’s Regional Hospital.

Intermountain St. Mary’s Regional collaborated with the Western Slope chapter of Girls on the Run to provide health education to 26 girls aged 8-11 during their summer camp in early June at a local science museum.

The Girls on the Run program focuses on empowering girls to believe in themselves and their capabilities, both mentally and physically. Volunteer coaches facilitate lessons that blend physical activity with life skills development, including managing emotions, fostering friendships, and expressing empathy.

“Our overall mission to incorporate movement while learning about important life skills and social skills that can be from making friends, making good decisions, realizing that emotions are OK to have and how to handle those emotions in a safe and confident way,” said Brittany Markert, camp leader of Girls on the Run.

In addition to sponsoring the week-long camp, Intermountain St. Mary’s caregivers volunteered as coaches, engaging the girls in a different health topic each day. Topics ranged from the importance of wearing a helmet and looking both ways before crossing the road to learning about healthy eating and staying active.

“Teaching children healthy habits early plants seeds that take root and grow into lifelong well-being, shaping their physical, mental, and emotional health for years to come. What we instill in them at a young age becomes the foundation they build upon, enabling them to thrive and make mindful choices as they navigate life’s challenges,” said Victoria Grasmick, community health program manager for Intermountain St. Mary’s Regional Hospital.

Intermountain St. Mary’s chaplain Alan Amos taught a lesson on managing our emotions and used the popular movie, Inside Out, to illustrate and normalize the “rollercoaster of emotions” all humans experience.

“The whole group discussed feelings by learning to ask ‘Is what we’re feeling real? Is what we’re feeling true?’ and they were very enthusiastic,” Amos said.

The girls also participated in an exercise activity with Intermountain St. Mary’s physical therapist Keesah Matz and learned about the importance of healthy eating habits from clinical nutritionist Erika Forsman.

“I think it is an impactful program that is reaching girls at a very vulnerable age,” Grasmick said.

When asked what they loved or learned during camp week with Girls on the Run, many girls shouted, “making friends,” followed by enthusiastic endorsements of learning how to make slime in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math education.

Intermountain St. Mary’s plans to provide Girls on the Run coaches with First Aid and CPR training this fall. They plan to host two camps in 2026.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in six states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, approximately 400 clinics, medical groups with some 4,600 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For up-to-date information and announcements, please see the Intermountain Health newsroom at https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.

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