“OUR BODY: Live Healthy” Gets Under the Skin

Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center has teamed up with Inter Valley Health Plan and Western University of Health Sciences to present “OUR BODY: Live Healthy” at the L.A. County Fair.

“For three major entities to get together, it was amazing,” said Kathy Roche, marketing manager at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. “Our customers overlap, and I have the highest respect and regard for both organizations.”

“OUR BODY: Live Healthy” features donated bodies that have been treated by a process called polymer impregnation. Through polymer preservation, bodily fluids are replaced by a liquid that is then hardened to create a solid and flexible anatomic specimen. 

Various stations allow visitors to get up close to the skeletal, muscular, nervous, respiratory, digestive, urinary, reproductive, endocrine, and circulatory systems. In addition to the bodies, the exhibition features signs and columns with tips on staying healthy and active. 

Although it can be graphic for some visitors, others found it to be not as off-putting as they thought.

“I don’t even like funerals, so I had to dig deep to come here,” said Larhonda Peaches of Diamond Bar, an intern in the marketing department at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. “I was leery, but then I walked through, and said, ‘OK, this isn’t as bad as I thought.’”

For more information, including hours and admission costs, visit the fair’s website.