Methodist Hospitals held their fall health fair and pancake breakfast at St. Timothy Community Church on Saturday, October 21.
Visitors received an invitation to a free breakfast after the registration and completion of free screenings. Brad Lucas, marketing corporate communications manager for Methodist Hospitals, describes how this event works for the betterment of the community.
“Today is all about Methodist Hospitals supporting the community,” Lucas said. “We’re providing screenings and additional services to the community and fulfilling our mission by fostering an environment of care.”
Methodist Hospitals orchestrates two health fairs every year, during the spring and fall seasons.
“It’s extremely important for us to provide easy access to care for community members that need it,” Lucas said. “With this event, we want to give those people a baseline of where they’re at.”
The event ran from 8 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. Lucas has been pleased with the collaboration required to put on their health fairs.
“We have numerous departments that want to join in supporting and educating the community every time we put this out,” Lucas said. “There’s never been a lack of participation and we’re grateful for all the helping hands that put this event together.”
Several tables offered valuable health information for the attendees. This includes education on breast care, bone density screening, lung screening, health insurance enrollment, and colonoscopy information.
Pat O’Brien, registered nurse (RN), discusses the significance of this information and how people can use it to act quickly in serious situations.
“We’re focusing on educating the community about potential risk factors,” O’Brien said. “It’s necessary for us to recognize stroke and get medical treatment as soon as possible. We have great technology tools and medications available for us to assist our patients.”
According to O’Brien, recent research indicates that having an understanding of stroke is especially important as a resident in the Region.
“Indiana has one of the highest hospitalization rates for stroke in the nation,” O’Brien said. “We try to consistently educate our patients to guide them in the right direction.”
Shari Slyder, director of the cardiovascular (CV) service line and chest pain coordinator, was also assisting with heart attack and stroke screenings. For Slyder, providing CPR training is one of the biggest benefits of the health fair.
“I hope people can walk away from this event with the understanding of how to use CPR,” Slyder said. “If somebody goes down, people need to know where to put the pads and how to operate the machine. The quicker you start, the quicker that you’re helping perfuse the body with blood and saving lives.”
For people who have atrial fibrillation, Methodist Hospitals worked to set up those patients with a physician to follow up on their healthcare.
After the screenings, Methodist Hospitals treated attendees with a free pancake breakfast. Side options including bacon and sausage, with a plethora of beverages.
“This is a great opportunity for us to give back to the community as Methodist Hospitals sends an overarching message of risk factor awareness,” Slyder said.
For more information on Methodist Hospitals, you can visit their website.
