WeCare Mobile Health Center Visits NJPAC Event

August 2010

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Some 30 individuals received free health screenings when Community Blood Services� WeCare Health and Wellness Mobile Center visited the �Sounds of the City� event held at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark.

The valuable health screenings, which included non-fasting total cholesterol, non-fasting glucose, hemoglobin, blood pressure, pulse, and temperature, were offered to all 30 individuals who stepped onto the bus in hopes of helping them maintain their good health and potentially identify abnormal results early enough to improve the outcome.

Participants at the August event were also educated about the importance of blood donation, particularly from ethnically and racially diverse donors, and joining The HLA bone marrow Registry at Community Blood Services so they might become potential stem cell donors to help critically ill patients around the world.

More diverse blood, umbilical cord blood and bone marrow stem cell donors are needed because far fewer African American, Asian, Hispanic and members of other diverse populations are donors. That means it is more difficult to meet the needs of patients from those communities who need transfusions or transplants.

Eleven individuals signed up at the NJPAC event to donate blood at a future date, while 15 registered as bone marrow stem cell donors with The HLA Registry. Dr. Ronald Walsh, medical director at Community Blood Services, was on hand to counsel participants whose screening results fell outside of the normal range.

�By inviting us to attend this very special event, NJPAC provided Community Blood Services with a great opportunity to reach out and make a difference in its community members� lives.,� said Dr. Walsh.

The WeCare Health & Wellness Mobile Center is dedicated to providing much-needed health screenings and health care education to our communities, particularly to community members who may be underserved by the health care system or have no insurance, and to raise awareness of the need for more blood donations from members within those communities.

"NJPAC serves not only as a presenter of fantastic culture but also a place where members of the Newark community can come to learn about and discuss important areas of interest. Encouraging free health screenings at �Sounds of the City� was one way for us to help those in the community at a fun, free event. We deeply appreciate Becton Dickinson helping to bring Community Blood Services� WeCare van to our event," said Eric Yesline, manager of corporate development and sponsorship marketing at NJPAC.

The mobile center is funded largely through private contributions and operated mostly by volunteer medical personnel. Anyone interested in having the WeCare center visit their community event can call 201-705-1604.