T-L Photo/KAILEY CARPINO
Lucas Burkhardt, stroke coordinator and nurse practitioner at WVU Wheeling Hospital, discusses the importance of health fairs.
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COLERAIN — The Colerain Township Board of Trustees along with WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, Colerain Fire Company and the Barton Volunteer Fire Department teamed up to present the first free Colerain Township Health Fair on Wednesday at Hilltop Social Hall.
Flu shots were provided by the Belmont County Health Department, and numerous displays along with health information were available.
Belmont County Fire and Squad Officers Association sold medical alert bracelets and house numbering signs. Local churches, clubs and groups including 4-H clubs sold baked goods and crafts. The event also featured door prizes.
Lucas Burkhardt, stroke coordinator and nurse practitioner at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, said he hopes to spread education and awareness about common health issues.
“We have tons of personnel here from our organization, WVU Wheeling Hospital, trying to get folks out and raise awareness about a lot of issues that affect tons of people in the area,” he said.
Burkhardt said that he taught people about the signs and symptoms of strokes at the fair.
“It’s one of the leading causes of disability within not only the country but also our area,” he said.
Several WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital booths and tables set up at the event provided information about what to do in medical emergencies and treatment options for common health conditions.
Burkhardt said he hopes more people will attend health fairs and other events to learn more about their health.
“I urge our community to get out and to educate and empower themselves when they see opportunities. I urge them to do so because I think there’s a lot of very valuable information here at these types of events,” he said. “Sometimes it is difficult to get people in the door. Once we do get people through the door and people out here, I think we have a lot of information, and it’s pretty valuable.”
Tami Magruder, director of population health at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, said the hospital does a lot of health fairs in the community and saw a need to host one in Colerain.
“We try to get into all the communities that our patients come from. … We try to get out and do health fairs pretty regularly. We do a lot of them at the area high rises and senior centers,” she said.
Magruder said she hopes to host a health fair every year at Hilltop Social Hall.
“We hope to make it bigger and better each year,” she said.
Physician Daniel Jones, who has a private practice in Colerain, said that the health fair allowed him to engage with the community.
“The cool thing about health fairs for health care systems is that it allows us as a health system to reach out and to get in the backyard of communities. … It allows us the chance to be in a more casual and non-intimidating environment so the patients, people, and citizens can ask questions and learn about services that are available from the local health care providers and health care systems,” he said.
Jones noted that he especially felt at home at Hilltop Social Hall; it was formerly Hilltop Elementary School, which he attended as a child.
William Sigon Jr., vice president of the Belmont County Fire and Squad Officers Association, said that the Colerain Township Trustees, Barton Fire Department and Colerain Fire Company worked together to make the health fair “as valuable as possible.”
For more information about upcoming health fairs hosted by WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, follow Wheeling Hospital’s Facebook page.