Casper health care providers 'come out in full force'

About a dozen Casper dentists manned an oral cancer screening booth at the Blue Envelope Fund Health Expo Saturday.

Dr. Debra Steele and her colleagues at Central Wyoming Neurosurgery put in a full 8-hour work day checking people for their risk of stroke.

Casper dermatologist Scott Bennion recruited some of his nursing staff and residents from the University of Wyoming Family Medicine Residency program to screen people for skin cancer.

More than 100 other health care providers in Casper volunteered to offer free screenings and advice at the Casper Convention Center Saturday in hopes of making Casper a little healthier.

'We're committed to improving the health of Casper," said Steele, a neurosurgeon. "We all like to work together. It's pretty impressive that we like to come out in full force."

Sue Hoag, vice president of Blue Envelope, called the Casper medical community's participation in the health fair "unique" and "awe-inspiring."

Vickie Pirayesh, executive director for Wyoming Health Fairs said a mix of corporate and community support can help events like this.

Wyoming Health Fairs does the discounted blood screenings for the Casper expo.

The Los Angeles fair had 60 to 70 flat screen televisions hanging from the ceiling and sponsors such as McDonald's and Walgreen Drug Stores, Pirayesh said.

"It was just beautiful," Pirayesh said.

She said the large event had little local participation and limited health screenings.

"Nobody has 18 screenings like us," Pirayesh said. "In a town like L.A., you can't get local doctors to participate. That just shows you Casper."

Without the help of local health care providers, the health expo would not be able to provide free breast exams, eye disease screenings, blood pressure checks and stroke-risk assessments.

Pirayesh said the screenings are needed to give people in Wyoming a wake up call to changes they might need to make in their lives.

"I don't mean to sound corny, but we are saving lives," Pirayesh said.

Just last year at the health fair, a man was transported to the hospital by ambulance because his carotid artery was so blocked, it put him at severe risk for a stroke.

Bennion, of Central Wyoming Skin Clinic, and his colleagues discovered a couple people after only a few hours of screening who had skin lesions that could be cancerous. One of the patients even scheduled an appointment in his office for Monday because the problem was serious.

"Skin cancers are a common thing and a lot of people don't worry about skin problems," Bennion said. "If we catch melanomas (the most advanced skin cancer) early, it can be curable, but it becomes a very difficult cancer to treat once it spreads. It becomes a very deadly tumor."

Tom Arnold came to the health fair because his wife, Karen, wanted him to get a stroke screening. He had a consultation with a doctor and the doctor recommended he wait in line to have his carotid artery examined.

Arnold and his wife moved to Casper from San Diego three years ago. He said he was surprised about how big the Casper health expo was and he had never heard of anything like these screenings happening in southern California.

"It's such a good deal," Tom Arnold said. "I am surprised that more of my friends don't take advantage of it. It's just a good community thing."

By ALLISON RUPP, Star-Tribune staff writer
Source: www.casperstartribune.net