Wellness fair rolls through Pahrump

A wellness fair rolled through Pahrump this month.

The Rise and Shine Wellness Fair, open to members of the OptumCare Network of Nevada and patients of Southwest Medical Associates at no cost, occurred at the Pahrump Nugget on Oct. 3. Attendees were offered health screenings, refreshments, appetizers and door prizes, along with an Elvis impersonator.

“We’re talking to our patients today,” said Nikki Macalalad, nurse practitioner, OptumCare community centers. “We do these health screening tests for them; that’s what we’re doing.”

Some of these screenings, including checking attendee’s lungs, nerves, circulation and other body systems, were available.

Mammograms were also available at the Pahrump Nugget on Southwest Medical’s mobile truck.

Southwest Medical’s Medicine on the Move truck travels around the state and brings some services to Nevada communities. Southwest Medical offers the services in partnership with Health Plan of Nevada and Sierra Health and Life.

“Through this partnership, the mobile medical center provides services to schools, charities, and other organizations where our patients and health plan members need care,” information on medicineonthemovenv.com stated.

The mobile service offers a variety of services, depending on the event, from Reno to Las Vegas, Laughlin, Mesquite and Pahrump.

“We can do peds, we can do seniors, we can do adult medicine, so it just depends on the event, what they’ve requested from us and which doctor we have on board,” said Megan Keepman, clinical operations manager, Medicine on the Move.

At the fair, Macalalad said she was able to help attendees connect with services they were in need of.

Macalalad noted one patient, she felt, needed to see their primary care doctor.

“We were able to get an appointment for tomorrow,” Macalalad said at the Oct. 3 event. “I think that this health care fair that we have is a great way to touch patients in a setting where all of these people are here to help.”

Macalalad also spoke about connecting people to new technology. She showed one attendee the NowClinic app for smartphones, where patients can access medical care for a variety of medical issues that aren’t emergent via video chat. Patients can also access the NowClinic through a tablet or PC.

Southwest Medical Associates launched NowClinic in 2014. Since, thousands of patients have been seen through the electronic platform through tablets, smartphones and PCs.

Macalalad worked with an attendee to teach her how to use the app, a service that’s available 24/7.

Macalalad said the older generation is picking up the use of mobile apps. She said she also helped her parents use mobile applications as well.

“It’s just a matter of acclimating them, so once I helped her get the app, I helped my parents, they’re going to be able to do it,” Macalalad said.

Southwest Medical also offers another service known as e-visit, where patients can contact their provider with questions, prescription renewals, requesting lab work or tests and other matters that aren’t emergent via chat through an electronic format.

Patients get a response within 24 hours on business days, according to Southwest Medical’s website.

“Again, I love that service,” said Macalalad. “I don’t necessarily need to see my doctor or my kid’s doctor all the time. I can just e-visit them, and I can get a response within 24 hours.”

OptumCare Network of Nevada, which hosted the wellness fair, produces the gathering twice a year in Pahrump, according to Macalalad.

Michael Reiner, family care physician from Independent Medical Group in Pahrump and health care providers and staff members from Southwest Medical’s Pahrump Healthcare Center were also on site.

For more about Southwest Medical in Pahrump, call 775-727-6400.

Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com, on Twitter @MeehanLv