Show for health and wellness

By Vernon Robison

The progress

Members of the public meet with local health and wellness providers at a community health fair hosted by Mesquite Gaming last week. Photo by Vernon Robison/The Process

Everything from blood to balloons was on display for attendees of the Mesquite Community Health Fair on Friday, September 30 in the event center tent at Casablanca Resort.

Sponsored by Mesquite Gaming, the corporate owner of the Casablanca and Virgin River properties, the event featured 85 health and wellness-related vendors. A steady stream of hundreds of local residents from the Virgin and Moapa valleys passed through the vast area and interacted with the exhibit.

“It was great this year!” said Daisy Duran, director of benefits for Mesquite Gaming, which coordinates the annual event. “We’ve had great feedback from the audience and people really appreciate it. We’re happy to bring it to the public,” he said.

Duran She conceived the idea for the health fair in 2016 while struggling to find resources to raise her own son with autism. If those resources were difficult for her to access, she thought, perhaps many other health-related resources Mesquite Gaming employees would struggle with.

“In a small town, these resources can sometimes be hard to find,” Duran said. But there are options. If people don’t know about them, they may just let themselves go without getting the help they need. “That’s not good.”
The health fair was designed to showcase those options specifically to Mesky Gaming employees.

“Originally, the plan was to run the health fair just for our employees,” Duran said. But it was quickly decided that we would open up the decision to the entire community. It was a good decision,” he said.

The health fair was a hit from the start. There were only about 20 vendors that first year, Duran said.
“This place was really big for us at the time,” Duran said.

But the turnout from local residents was strong. So Duran stuck with the event, growing a little every year.
On Friday, the hall was filled with various vendors and service providers.

Jennifer Strobel, Executive Director of Effective Autism Treatment Families, was at the vendor table talking to attendees about the resources this organization provides for families affected by autism. Many of these resources are free for families.

“We can talk to these families, educate them about autism and help them navigate the care system,” Strobel said. “Many of these families feel isolated and don’t know where to go for help. We have an army of other parents in Southern Nevada who can provide support.

Riches Eye Center had a table where ophthalmologist Brenda Jones was present to talk to the public. Lorena Lemus was offering free eye exams and macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataracts over the counter.
“If we find those conditions early and can treat them, we can prevent them from getting much worse,” Lemus said.

Mesa View Regional Hospital offers free blood tests and tests, including a complete metabolic panel and hepatic function panel. Robert Goode, laboratory director of the hospital’s new laboratory facility, attended. Mr. Good said that one of the biggest challenges in building the new laboratory is finding the workers.
“We are willing to work with people quickly,” he said. “If someone is certified in phlebotomy, we train them to become a lab technician and create a career ladder for them.”

Lisa Tunison from Intermountain Health was visiting the company’s “My Generation” clinic in Mesquite. She explained that the clinic aims to provide a higher standard of care to Medicare Advantage patients. Doctors spend a lot of time consulting with patients.
“Our average appointment time is about 30 minutes,” Tunison said.

Hundreds of dollars in prizes were raffled off to the public at the event. These include gift cards, baskets, bicycles, smart TVs and even gun safes. All these were presented by the presenters at the event.