He battled cancer and won. Now he’s bringing free health fair to Columbus residents

Tree of Life Healthcare is partnering with individuals and organizations in the community to bring a free health fair to Columbus this weekend.

On March 30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Columbus Civic Center, visitors can participate in various free screenings and speak with doctors on-site about healthcare, according to Lowell Cliatt, president and CEO of Tree of Life Healthcare.

Cliatt explained that his personal experience with cancer led to forming Tree of Life Healthcare and drove the organization’s desire to provide healthcare to the community at a “minimal as possible” cost. They operate on a sliding scale for payments and work with other partners in the community to help provide services at a low cost.

In 2015, Cliatt was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in his colon and liver. He is now in remission and working to provide healthcare and preventative care to the community.

“I believe God laid upon my heart — why should I as an individual have these things available to me and there’s others in our community that don’t have it available to them?” Cliatt said.

In 2016 the organization started the health fair, first offering prostate screenings. They later came to the conclusion that the fair should provide services and screenings “for the whole family,” Cliatt said. He hopes people from Georgia and Alabama will come participate in this year’s health fair.

The fair is being held in association with National Public Health Week, and some of the offered screenings that will be provided are for prostate cancer, diabetes and breast exams.

Cliatt hopes that the people who participate in the health fair and need help with an underlying condition will learn they can come to Tree of Life Healthcare to get help.

As a non-profit medical and eye care clinic, Tree of Life Healthcare aims to provide services to uninsured and others in the community who may need help getting medical care.

Those interested in partnering with Tree of Life Healthcare or learning more about their services can visit treeoflifehealthcare.org.

This story was originally published March 29, 2019 at 7:00 AM.