September 2024 | Volume 12 | Issue 12
Sun HOOVER’S COMMUNITY NEWS SOURCE HOOVERSUN.COM | STARNESMEDIA.COM
Fall Medical Guide
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The power to save Why talking about mental health matters
Meet providers in your area and discover services near you.
See page B1
Education Guide
Explore educational services in and around Hoover.
See page B8
INSIDE Sponsors........... A4 City......................A6 Schoolhouse..... A8 Business........... A10
By SARAH OWENS
C
allie Sisk grew up in what she considers a normal family, the middle child of three with two working parents. But her life was completely changed on May 13, 2007, when her father decided not to accompany the family to church. Instead, Steve Carmichael took his own life at the age of 44. Sisk, a Hoover resident and a native of Enterprise, was a freshman in high school at the time. “Enterprise had just experienced an EF4 tornado. It hit our high school, killing eight students, and emotionally that was a lot,” she said. “So March 1 the tornado happened, and then two months later my dad took his own life. For a 14-year-old, almost 15-yearold girl, that's a lot of emotion and a lot of confusing things to happen.” Confusion is not unusual for suicide loss survivors, as many people struggle to comprehend the actions of their loved ones. That’s why so many individuals and organizations work to raise awareness, and September is designated as National Suicide Prevention Month to help bring attention to the topic. Sisk says her parents had shielded her and her siblings from the negativity of addiction
and depression from which her father suffered, so his manner of death was difficult to comprehend. “At 14 years old, being told dad’s not coming home, your mind isn’t mature enough to navigate what this truly means, and there’s so much confusion,” she said. “Also the feeling of embarrassment, of ‘What are people gonna think about us?’
Inside this issue: ► Trauma, isolation, a choice: Veterans wage mental battle, see page A20. ► Suicide among senior citizens on the rise, see page A21. ► Hoover schools support, educate students on mental health issues, see page A22.
See MENTAL HEALTH | page A18
Real Estate...... A14 Events................B12 Sports............... B14
Future Grandview freestanding ER in Hoover to fill void By GRACE THORNTON
facebook.com/hooversunnews
Grandview Medical Center has been serving people from its spot along U.S. 280 since 2015, and soon the hospital’s service reach will expand with a new freestanding emergency department on Valleydale Road. The new facility is planned at 2137 Valleydale Road near Interstate 65 and across from the Southlake medical complex and Lowe’s Home Improvement Store. Alan Paquette, chairman of the Hoover Health Care Authority, said it will help fill a void.
See GRANDVIEW ER | page A16
WE FIX ROOFS 205•900•ROOF | CARDINAL-ROOF.COM
Matt Frederick, firefighter and EMT, left, and Jay Wheeler, a fire medic, with the Trussville Fire and Rescue Service tour the major trauma room at the Grandview Medical Center freestanding emergency department following a ribbon cutting ceremony in April 2023. Grandview plans to open a second freestanding emergency department at 2137 Valleydale Road near Interstate 65. Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.