by Diana Dahl of MPMC
Debbie Lewis gets her blood drawn by Katie Klatt at the Middle Park
Medical Center Health Fair on Saturday, May 13. This year’s fair
featured fewer lines and less waiting times! Health fair participants had
the opportunity to get their blood drawn during the week preceding the
health fair. Participants boasted minimum wait times and the immediacy
of their test results.
On Saturday, May 13th, Middle Park Medical Center hosted the Kremmling Health Fair at West Grand K-8. This was the first year MPMC took ownership of the fair without being a part of the 9Health Fair series.
The decision to separate from the 9Health Fairs was made for the sake of keeping care local. By MPMC hosting the Health Fair, blood tests were processed internally, whereas the 9Health Fairs transport and process blood work outside of the County. The cost of the complete health profile test was less than 9Health Fairs charge. Additionally, this year MPMC was able to offer bloodwork in conjunction with the fair through out the prior week. This drastically reduced wait times for bloodwork at the fair and enabled participants to get their results before the fair, bring them to the fair, and have a doctor review them at the fair. Also by MPMC hosting the fair, results could be imported directly into MPMC patient records, enabling doctors to have direct access to the results.
Local partners, including Mind Springs Health, Kremmling Police, Pregnancy Resource Center, and Grand County Rural Health Network, among others, provided information and answered questions related to their services within the County.
Sponsors of this year’s fair were West Grand School District, Jilly’s, Middle Park Medical Foundation, Kremmling Mercantile, Moose Café, Rocky Mountain Bar and Grill, West Grand Community Educational Foundation, and Grand Mountain Bank.
Attendance at the fair was lower than in recent years, which MPMC attributes to this being the first year of something new and not being a part of the 9Health Fair marketing efforts. Next year they intend to more heavily market the fair through new avenues, including sending an email blast to patients. Participants next year can also look forward to additional specialist screenings, vitamin testing, and a kids zone focused on making the Health Fair a family experience. This year’s fair included a Flight for Life helicopter landing during the fair and participants able to explore inside the helicopter and speak with the pilots, which was a hit with the children in attendance. This is an aspect of the fair MPMC aims to continue in the future.
Middle Park Medical Center sincerely thanks this year’s Health Fair attendees, volunteers, and sponsors for their support of this local healthcare initiative. Sherri Solawetz, the fair’s organizer said, “This was our first MPMC Health Fair. I feel it went well, and we will be making exciting improvements for next year’s fair. A big thank you goes to all of our local sponsors and volunteers. We couldn’t have done it without you!”
