Mini health fair comes to Warden
Mini health fair comes to Warden
Fair helps Samaritan Hospital assess possibility of more health care services
WARDEN — Since February, Samaritan Hospital and community members from Warden have been meeting to discuss availability of health care services there.
On Friday residents had a chance to attend a mini health fair put on by the hospital.
In a previous interview this spring Samaritan Hospital CEO John White said the health fair would better help the hospital determine the feasibility of having more services available in Warden, part of Grant County Hospital District No. 1, by how many attend.
By the end of the five hour fair six mammograms, more than 20 blood draws, nine osteoporosis tests and two to three blood pressure tests had been administered.
A health coach from Sacred Heart Medical Center out of Spokane came to do mammography screenings. Basic blood testing for cholesterol, glucose, calcium, phosphorus and triglycerides were made available, as well as body fat scans, osteoporosis and blood pressure tests.
Additional funds from the Samaritan Healthcare Foundation went toward the cost of some of the mammography screenings.
"This is a great opportunity for those who cannot afford to go to the doctor," said Mary Casas, a phlebotomist with Samaritan Hospital who was at the health fair.
It is for that same reason, in addition to issues of transportation, that has prompted community members in the past to voice their concerns about a lack of health services in Warden.
Rosario Morales and Juana Hernandez both work at a potato plant in Warden and attended Friday.
Speaking through a translator, the two women, unlike others in their community, do not feel Warden has been left out of receiving adequate health care but would like to see something offered for female health exams.
"They don't feel like they're left out because they can always go to Moses Lake if they need medical treatment of any kind," the translator said, speaking on behalf of Morales and Hernandez.
Tara Anderson came to get blood drawn and her body fat percentage taken.
When she needs medical care Anderson most often will go to Moses Lake rather than Othello. She also sees two specialists in Spokane.
"I wanted to make use of it because we just don't have services like this in Warden and a lot of people just cannot get to Moses Lake or Othello," Anderson said.
The health fair took place at the Moses Lake Community Health building on Main Street where the Women Infant and Children Office is located.
Nurse Melodie Rodeback at Samaritan Hospital used to work in the WIC office when an independent doctor provided services there in the late 1980s.
Samaritan Hospital would later purchase the building which is now operated by Moses Lake Community Health.
"Were we booked solid every day? No," Rodeback said of the amount of traffic the medical office in Warden received when she worked there.
The majority of patients Rodeback saw in the Warden office were plant injuries or school children who were behind with their immunizations.
"We took the service to them and reached those people who needed it," said Connie Opheikens, community relations coordinator at Samaritan Hospital.
CEO White and a port of Warden commissioner were not available before deadline to comment on what the next step is in determining whether more health care services will be brought to Warden.
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