Sarah A. Miller/Staff Northeast Texas Public Health District CEO George Roberts, flanked by Mayor Barbara Bass, District 2 City Councilman Darryl Bowdre, along with Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce members, cuts the ribbon to officially open the Center for Healthy Living on Frankston Highway.

Tylerites will be able to get healthier and learn about what it takes to stay that way now that the Center for Healthy Living has opened its doors at 2815 Frankston Highway.

There was a ribbon cutting and public tour of the new facility, a joint partnership between the Northeast Texas Public Health District and the city of Tyler, on Wednesday. The center is a newly developed public health facility that will focus on health self-management, healthy cooking, grocery store tours, tobacco cessation classes and much more, according to a news release from the Public Health District.

“The center is designed to teach people how to be healthier and manage their health outside of the physician’s office,” NET Health CEO George Roberts said in a release. The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the first diabetes self-management class will happen tonight at 6:30 p.m. Willie Campbell, older brother of NFL Football star Earl Campbell, will be teaching those classes. All services at the Center are free and open to the public.

The City Council in May approved the creation of the center in the former Tyler Fire Station No. 5. The city is funding the center with $66,500 in matching funds, City Manager Mark McDaniel said in May. “We split the $265,000 in annual funds that used to go to the Total Healthcare Clinic four ways,” he said.

Roberts told council members in May that the health district would lease the building for $1,500 a month from the city. The total cost to fund the center will be $165,000 per year for four years, which includes the city’s match, Roberts said. The remainder will come from a federal grant, he said.

“I am excited about the possibilities of success for this clinic,” Councilman Darryl Bowdre of District 2 said in May.

All diabetes empowerment classes will be held at the center at 2815 Frankston Highway from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays. The days are: Oct. 17, Understanding the Human Body and Risk Factors for diabetes; Oct. 24, Monitoring Your Body; Oct. 31, Diabetes Complications with special guest Willie Campbell; Nov. 7, Controlling Diabetes through Nutrition and Physical Activity with special guest Christine LaFaille; Nov. 14, field trip, shopping with NuVal with special guest Shalom Fairley, nutrition education specialist; Nov. 21, living with chronic diseases and medications with special guest Wendell Doc.

For more information, call 903-535-0028.