Nurse Practitioner Amy Sawin (left) discusses the importance of preventive care with Health and Wellness Day attendees. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
PARKERSBURG – WVU Medicine Camden Clark hosted its annual Health and Wellness Day on Saturday at its Health and Wellness Center, 2804 Birch St.
The day focused on preventive healthcare and a wide range of screenings and resources from WVU Medicine and its partners. Twenty providers provided literature on helplines, warning signs and other treatment options.
“The biggest thing we offer today is the low-cost blood tests,” said Louie Haer of WVU Medicine. “We do this about three times a year. People can come in, pay for the blood test, get the voucher today and then have a month to redeem it at six of our Camden Clark branches across the city.”
The first 100 participants also received vouchers for free electrocardiograms at the event. The vouchers can be redeemed on September 14th.
The Rotary Club of Parkersburg sold the vouchers at cost for $43 for women and $50 for men. Rotary has a long-standing partnership with WVU Medicine Camden Clark.
According to Kim Couch, Rotary president and executive director of the Camden-Clark Foundation, this is a great opportunity to get involved.
“For us, it is an opportunity to volunteer in the community. Our motto is: service before self, and that is certainly it,” Said Couch.
Additional scans available included blood pressure measurements, body fat percentiles and derma scans.
Derma scans are used to detect possible skin cancer sites that are not immediately visible to the patient.
“We look at your face, forehead and neck and look for areas that may be of concern or could be causing problems that are not visible to the naked eye.” Lauren Gillian, director of cancer services at WVU Medicine, said: “And by simply sharing that information with our participants, we can enable them to watch and monitor and work with their provider to create a plan and then educate them on ways to protect their skin.”
Westbrook Health Services provided information about preventive addiction treatment and mental health support in the area. Westbrook offered information about suicide prevention in West Virginia, noting that 173 program sites have been established in 47 West Virginia counties. Other offerings included literature for a crisis text hotline and a suicide and crisis hotline. Westbrook offers outpatient addiction treatment to help people with substance use disorders in the area.
Gwen Sour can be reached at [email protected].
