Fall health fair coming up

PORTALES — Roosevelt General Hospital will hold its fall health fair this weekend to help combat the impending flu season and educate community members about proper healthcare.

“We've titled this fall's health fair 'Become a Flue Fighter' and we'll be ready to give out flu shots by the time the fair hits,” said Jeanette Orrantia, this year's health fair organizer. “Every year the flu invades the community and our clinics fill up very fast. This is an effort for the hospital to get involved and bring awareness of the flu to the community so hopefully it doesn't become a problem for the area.”

The fair will be offering free flu vaccinations for adults and children 3 years or older. There will also be free speech, hearing and language screenings.

Educational booths will be set up covering a range of topics such as information on Medicaid, good nutrition, how medical power of attorney works, the importance of colonoscopy and interventional pain management.

“We want to use this time to talk to our community that come about each of these topics,” Orrantia said. “I've pulled someone from each department we have to come out and answer people's questions.”

The hospital will also be using the fair as a venue to present job opportunities, with the hospital's HR division manning a booth, presenting job opportunities and taking resumes.

There won't be any food or vendors in attendance, but visitors are welcome to eat at the hospital's cafeteria.

This is the ninth year the hospital has run a community health fair, but the first year it has done two fairs in a single year. While previous fairs have featured a free blood-draw, that service will be reserved for the spring fair in April from now on.

The Health Fair will run from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday at Roosevelt General Hospital.