1st PCH Annual Health Fair

Organizations showed up enforce at the First Annual Phillips County Hospital - from the Montana Highway Patrol to Smokey the Bear - all in the name of healthcare.

"We felt there was a need for healthcare to be out in the public a little more and to get the word out about healthcare in Phillips County," Susan Bibbs, Phillips County Hospital and Family Health Clinic Association Business Office Manager, said. "The hospital and clinic are some of the largest employers in Phillips County. So, we started a committee with about eight people and this health fair just grew from there."

Bibbs said that invitations were sent to many local organizations who deal with healthcare in Phillips County and most were present at the Thursday morning event.

A free breakfast was served to start the morning which also featured drawings, free thermometer giveaways, Chronic Care Management Information, blood pressure readings, a kid's fun and coloring area, health and awareness literature and information, snacks and popcorn at the end of the day.

Phillips County Hospital and Clinic Health Practitioner Theresa Ohl gave two talks on suicide and depression while her husband, Montana Highway Trooper Dan Ohl, was on-hand talking about the importance of driver safety.

"We are here to educate people about using seatbelts, Montana's 'Pull Over, Slow Down' law, and we want to make sure people are getting their windshields cleaned off from frost in the winter," Trooper Ohl said (and he had free ice scrapers on hand to give away during the event.)

Montana Codes Annotated states "Operation of vehicles on approach of authorized emergency vehicles or police vehicles and approaching stationary emergency vehicles or police vehicles" and that drivers must "reduce the vehicle's speed, proceed with caution, and, if possible considering safety and traffic conditions, move to a lane that is not adjacent to the lane in which the authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle is located or move as far away from the authorized emergency vehicle or police vehicle as possible."

"That will help us keep safe out there," Trooper Ohl said.

Other groups in attendance on the day including the Phillips County Nurses office, the Phillips County Ambulance and EMT, and Billings Clinic representatives, and 50-percent off lab specials at the hospital were held throughout the day.

"Everyone just picked their own topics on what they wanted to focus on and now they are set up at stations throughout the hospital today," Bibbs said.

Phillips County Hospital Physical Therapy's Kayla Howard was at the health fair talking to people about an upcoming class she is teaching in conjunction with the Malta City Parks and Rec Department.

"I am here talking about the 'Walk with Ease Program'," Howard said. "We reached out to the City to see what they thought about hosting the program at the City Hall Gym and they liked the idea."

Howard said the 'Walk with Ease Program' will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays and will run for six-weeks at a cost of $25.

"We will learn some stretching, some warmup, we will walk and then do a cool-down," Howard said of the course. "We will also talk about the benefits of walking, what it does for arthritis and preventing arthritis. We just really want people to be getting up and getting active."

The classes are slated to begin in November so call the Phillips County Hospital at 654-1100 or Malta City Hall at 654-1251 for more information.

All told, 60 people attended the First Annual Phillips County Hospital Health Fair, Bibbs said.

"We're very pleased with how the event went," she said. "We had lots of great information given out and great participation. We're looking forward to making this a yearly event."