People take advantage of health screenings

Mercy Health 100Men of Lorain County, International House of Praise and 89.1Radio hosted a health screening.

Mercy Health 100 Men of Lorain County, International House of Praise and 89.1 Radio came together to host a health screening at House of Praise International in Lorain on April 17.

From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. community members were able to come out and get their blood pressure taken, a prostate exam, thyroid levels, A1C and a general health screening.

“We wanted this to be a safe place for people to come and get medically assessed and if nothing else, break down the fear of people and regular physicians,” said Donna Sims parish nurse at Mercy Health.

Throughout the screening, about 30 people came to get assessed and check their health.

“This was an opportunity to get a number of people in and checked. A lot of people are afraid to know their numbers but we wanted to help them with that,” she said.

Insurance wasn’t needed for the event and all patients were seen. According Jay Nimene, president of 100 Men of Lorain County, he wanted to address a stigma in the minority community about healthcare.

“A lot of people use emergency rooms as their primary care provider and only go when something is wrong. But that’s not OK. You need a primary care physician,” he said.

Sims said primary health care providers dig deeper than ER professionals and are able to remember and keep track of your issues.

“ER services are quick and for emergencies. They’ll see you but by the time they do it could be something serious which could have been avoided by getting checked regularly” she said.

With April being Minority Health Month, Sims said she knew she wanted to host and collaborate with various groups in Lorain County to address the health of people of color in the county.

Although the screening was open to everyone regardless of race, Sims said she wanted to remind minorities of how important it is to get exams done regularly.

“You don’t have to be afraid of the doctor. They will do their best to make you safe,” she said.

“I’m so thankful we were able to do this. We couldn’t have done it without our sponsors and everyone putting in teamwork.”

LYRIC AQUINO — THE MORNING JOURNAL Volunteer parish nurse Marilyn Chavalia checks the blood pressure of James Carter Jr. on April 17.

SUBMITTED Patients wait from a free health screening on April 17.