Event Marks Child Abuse Prevention Month
ROME, Ga., April 3, 2025 – Teammates from Atrium Health Floyd and Harbin Clinic joined the Exchange Club Family Resource Center and other community leaders on Thursday to show support for families during Child Abuse Prevention Month.
A pinwheel planting event was held on Redmond Road and John Maddox Drive near the Harbin Clinic campus. Each pinwheel represents approximately 50 children in our community affected by abuse or neglect, according to Tina Bartleson, executive director of the Family Resource Center. She said about 300 pinwheels were placed in the grass.
“I want to express my appreciation to Harbin Clinic and Atrium Health Floyd for sponsoring this year's placement of the pinwheels event," Bartleson said. “Child Abuse Prevention Month is about renewing our commitment to these children and the families that care for them. And I am so grateful to be working in a time when agencies come together to serve families.
“We empower families to be resilient, to have healthy connections and to enable their children to grow and thrive," she continued. “No one agency can do 100 percent of this work, and I am so grateful to work in this community where we have so many agencies working hand in hand. We do not work in silos. We work in partnership."
That partnership is important to families looking for help and resources.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure they know we are there for them," said Dr. Tyler Barnes, a pediatrician with Atrium Healthy Floyd. “Parenting is hard," Barnes continued. “Raising a child is hard, and I think anyone who has done that knows that. We don't want anyone to feel like they are alone while they are going through that, and I think we have a lot of families out there, they feel that way. We want them to know we are here to support them."
Dr. Robersteen Howard, a pediatrician with Harbin Clinic said 1 in 7 children in Georgia experience neglect or abuse each year.
“It is our collective responsibility to raise awareness, to provide support and take action," she said. “By working together we can create safer environments, advocate for stronger protections and ensure every child has the opportunity to grow up healthy, safe and supported.
“I am proud to work in a community where this is so important," she concluded.
About Atrium Health Floyd
The Atrium Health Floyd family of health care services is a leading medical provider and economic force in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Floyd strategically combined with Harbin Clinic in 2024 and employs more than 5,200 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at four facilities: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center – a 361-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia; and Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; and Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health, also in Rome. Together, Atrium Health Floyd and Harbin Clinic provide primary care, specialty care and urgent care throughout northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd also operates a stand-alone emergency department in Chattooga County, the first such facility to be built from the ground-up in Georgia.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States, created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois; Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama; and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Advocate Health is nationally recognized for its expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs more than 160,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations and offers one of the nation's largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to redefining care for all, Advocate Health provides more than $6 billion in annual community benefits.