GRMC set to host annual health fair

GRMC set to host annual health fair News Staff Mon, 07/22/2024 - 4:47 pm

• (ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) A visitor to the Graham Regional Medical Center Health Fair in 2023 receives a finger stick blood sugar test. The fair this year will be held from 6-10 a.m. Saturday, July 27 at Graham High School.
• (ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) A volunteer from the Graham Lions Club gives an eye exam during the Graham Regional Medical Center Health Fair in 2023 at the Young County Arena.

X

TC Gordon news@grahamleader.com

Graham Regional Medical Center is geared up and ready for another health fair, an annual event to benefit the community.

The fair this year is themed “Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Healthiness” and will take place from 6-10 a.m. Saturday, July 27 at Graham High School. It is an event that’s free of charge to all who attend.

“Services provided by us will be free lab work. Annual lab work for anyone that does or doesn’t have insurance, we don’t run it, we don’t ask (for it),” GRMC Community and Marketing Liaison Mia Patterson said. “So it is a good thing. It’s a few hundred dollars worth of work that you’re getting for free and provided by the GRMC lab.”

This free health fair will be held at a new location this year, with services taking place at GHS in the commons area. In the past, the event has been held at the Young County Arena or local churches, but the hospital believes the change this year will be a positive one.

“We hope for the community it is a more centralized location and maybe easier for people to get to,” Patterson said. “Our second reason was for our vendors. We’re hoping that because it is on the west side of the building, it’ll be cooler in the morning and their AC will hopefully help a little bit better. …That’s one thing that we are excited for is just a venue change just to try it out.”

In addition to the free lab work provided by GRMC, vision screenings presented by The Lions Club are also available, as well as blood sugar checks by Young County Home Health.

“Those are kind of our top three services rendered and then, of course, all the vendors bring their own education,” Patterson said.

The Lions Club vision screenings cover a variety of eye issues such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, risk factors for amblyopia and glaucoma, as well as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and cataracts.

As part of the health fair, vendors will have booths set up around the area at GHS to provide information on a variety of topics. These vendors range from GRMC Rehabilitation to Texas Oncology to assisted living homes, to even the Graham Police Department.

“(GPD is) doing education on being under the influence,” Patterson said. “So I believe that they’re bringing their ‘drunk goggles’ and kind of doing a presentation with the community on that.”

A large part of how GRMC is able to put on this free health fair is thanks to their sponsors. Different organizations donate money, time and resources to help medical personnel help citizens in the county.

The GRMC Health Fair is often attended by a large number of visitors and community members and Patterson said they’re expecting another large turnout this year.

“The attention that we’re getting this year is twice as much as last year. Whether it pertains to the venue or not, I’m not sure. But I’m hoping that that’s twice as many people that are coming into attendance and I hope that number increases,” Patterson said. “I think that the space at the high school can accommodate the growth that we’re eager to see.”

• News