ST. GEORGE – Intermountain Healthcare Southwest Region’s Dixie Regional Medical Center is celebrating 100 years of hospital care throughout 2013. Part of its celebration involves transforming its annual health fair into a new event – The LiVe Well Expo. The expo’s theme is: We’re celebrating 100. You can, too.
“The LiVe Well Expo can help people learn how to live healthier, longer lives,” event coordinator Caitlyn O’Connell said. “Come learn more about your health and improve it.”
The Expo will be held Mar. 2, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Dixie Regional Health & Performance Center located at 652 S. Medical Center Drive, east of the River Road hospital.
“There is no admission charge, although some of the screenings do have a small fee to cover the cost of testing,” O’Connell said.
Those screenings are:
- Lipid panel/cholesterol breakdown – $25 – fast for at least 10 hours prior
- Complete metabolic profile – $25
- Prostate-specific antigen test – $15
- Take-home colorectal kit – $3
To help keep lines down the day of the event, fees for the blood tests may be paid by cash, check or credit at the hospital cashier’s office on weekdays prior to the expo during regular business hours.
Other screenings and assessments that will be administered by professionals at the fair include body composition analysis, blood pressure, blood glucose, foot and ankle screening, oximetry reading, painful joint screening (including arthritis), nutritional counseling, osteoporosis education, dizziness testing, hearing testing, glaucoma checks, RESEP Clinic counsel for Downwinders, skin cancer screening, stroke assessment, wound consultations and more.
Informational booths include fertility clinic, mammography, lactation services and sports medicine.
Many family friendly services are part of the fair including the Teddy Bear Clinic, which will be located at the lower level of the Health & Performance Center. Children can bring their favorite doll or teddy bear and help nurses with routine check-up procedures. There will also be a Wii Fit, bounce house, obstacle course and many more children-friendly activities. The Teddy Bear Clinic will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Children can also tour a fire truck and ambulance outside of the Health & Performance Center.
Karen Nowling, nurse manager at Intermountain Homecare, participated in the expo last year. “Every year something happens that makes me so glad I made the effort to do it,” Nowling said, “and this year was no exception.”
The majority of individuals who attend the expo find that they are in good health. However, a few make life-saving discoveries. At last year’s event, a nursing student called Nowling over because something didn’t seem right with a patient.
“I could immediately see that this lady was pale, struggling to breathe and bent forward with her hand on the right side of her rib cage,” Nowling said.
After careful questioning Nowling learned this woman had recently been diagnosed with pneumonia but hadn’t yet picked up her prescription. Nowling strongly encouraged her to do so and to begin taking it. Later that day Nowling connected with the woman’s friend who assured her that she had taken her friend to the pharmacy and then home to put her to bed.
The expo provides an opportunity for people, just like this woman, to find immediate assistance that she might not have received. Nowling was grateful for the experience she and her students were able to have while serving.
“It was a long day but experiences like this make it feel very rewarding and you can count on me again for next year,” Nowling said.
Screenings are offered in the public concourses of the Health & Performance Center (all levels). “The LiVe Well Expo would not be possible without the dedicated people who volunteer their time to staff the screenings,” O’Connell said. “They put in a lot of work and we’re thankful for their efforts.”
Event Recap:
When: Mar. 2, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Location: Dixie Regional Health & Performance Center, 652 S. Medical Center Drive (east of Dixie Regional Medical Center)
Admission: Free to the public, some screenings carry associated fees
Information contact: Caitlyn at 435-251-2196
Submitted by: Dixie Regional Medical Center
Email: [email protected]