Hundreds of medical professionals, language interpreters and community organizers joined forces Saturday to provide free care and resources at the 16th Annual Frederick Community Health Fair at Frederick High School.
The show is sponsored by the Frederick Asian American Center and Frederick Health Hospital. Seventy-two groups attended, including Frederick County government agencies, nonprofits, businesses and the U.S. Public Health Service.
According to AACF Director of Operations TJ Sydykov, more than 3,000 people had pre-registered for medical services on Saturday.
People attending the health fair can access a range of services including vaccinations, hepatitis and HIV testing, eye exams, dental exams, breast exams and blood sugar and diabetes screenings.
Insurance or proof of residency is not required to receive care at the Community Health Fair. Individuals who receive a new diagnosis at the event will be referred to providers in the community who can help treat or manage their condition.
In addition to medical services, show organizers helped distribute hundreds of prepackaged shopping bags, COVID-19 tests, masks and other necessities to visitors.
Members of Hope 4 Our Children set up an activity center for children accompanying their parents to the fair, featuring face painting, henna tattoos and balloon animals. Other groups held information sessions in classrooms.
Sidikoff said about half of the people who pre-registered for the event requested Spanish-language services, which “really shows the need for diverse health care workers in Frederick County.”
To meet this demand, organizers have also recruited Dari, Pashto, Russian, Ukrainian, Hindi, Gujarati, Burmese, French, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Vietnamese, Urdu, Thai and American Sign Language speakers came to help translate.
Bryan Morales said he was initially drawn to community health fairs because he knew a lot of people who needed medical care but couldn’t get it because they didn’t speak English or didn’t have adequate health insurance Serve.
“It’s amazing to see so many barriers broken down,” Morales said. “You can tell there are a lot of people in the Frederick community who are very supportive.”
Morales appreciated that the show’s many providers offer literature in different languages, giving people the opportunity to read about health topics at their own pace. He said he plans to volunteer at the next community health fair.
Darlene Burns, a nursing student at Frederick Community College, volunteers at the fair, taking patients’ vital signs and documenting their concerns before passing them on to a physician or physician assistant.
“You don’t realize how high the demand for services is in Frederick until you come here,” Burns said. “People will come here with years of dental abscesses or pain, but they’re elsewhere That kind of help is not available.”