By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
Val Verde Regional Medical Center staff traveled to Comstock,
Texas, to raise awareness of healthy living and promote local medical resources.
More than 20 Comstock and Del Rio residents attended the “Love
Center, gets his blood checked by Melina Muniz, right, VVRMC medical assistant,
during the “Love Yourself: Keep Up With Your Health” event in Comstock Saturday.
Coggins said it took a “few minutes” for him to get his blood checked. Jorge Jurado, chief
executive of VVRMC, said he and the board members held the event at Comstock to introduce
its residents to some of the VVRMC staff and inform them about the medical resources
available to them. (Photo by Louis Zylka)
Yourself: Keep Up With Your
Health” event at the Comstock Community Center on Saturday morning. The VVRMC staff
provided information on local providers and programs, discussed key elements for healthy living
and demonstrated cooking and exercise tips to incorporate into day-to-day activities.
Comstock is in Val Verde County and is located 30 miles west of Del Rio. VVRMC has held
similar events in the other Val Verde County precincts.
Jorge Jurado, chief executive officer of VVRMC, and VVRMC hospital board member Robin
Palmer said they were happy to be at Comstock and said the event helps raise awareness about heart health. Jurado said the goal of the event is to bring awareness of their resources to
more areas of the Val Verde County.
“Val Verde County is large . . . and (VVRMC) is the hospital. We have to do a better job of
getting out there to our community members outside the city limits of Del Rio, and we have been
successful in doing that,” Jurado said. “We want to have a bigger presence out here (in
Comstock) because we know you don’t have any other resources here for health care.”
Dr. Stephen Korte, Medical Director of the VVRMC Heart Health Clinic and cardiologist and Cynthia Hernandez, VVRMC
research to Comstock residents at the “Love Yourself: Keep Up With Your Health” event in
Comstock, Texas Saturday. Korte said cardiology is tied to “behavior and genetics” and
talked about the techniques for an individual to use for protecting their body. (Photo by Louis
Zylka)
cardiology nurse practitioner, were the first
speakers of the event. Korte talked about the evolution of cardiology research and the different
techniques to use for taking care of one’s body, and Hernandez talked about maintaining a
healthy heart by checking on your blood pressure, protecting your blood sugars, staying active
and eating healthier foods.
Several organizations were invited to promote the services they provide. Donna Martinez,
advanced heart failure nurse, spoke about her organization, the Homero Heart Failure
Foundation. Martinez is the president and co-founder of the non-profit organization and said her
team focuses on educating their communities about ways to prevent heart diseases.
Alaina Pickhinke, family community health extension agent for Texas A&M, spoke next and
talked about her organization, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Pickhinke said she is
based in Val Verde and helps her organization promote state programs in the county.
Marcopolo Mallen, sous chef for VVRMC, and David Lopez, food service director for VVRMC,
talked about easy and healthy meals and snacks to prepare at home. The chefs also provided a
table of healthy foods for the guests to eat, including mixed fruit, street corn, vegan tuna salad,
turkey sliders, baked wings and fresh drinks.
Physical therapist Abi Fleck Guerra was the last person to speak and demonstrated simple
exercise routines people can perform each day to maintain a healthy body.
nurse practitioner, talks about heart health to Comstock residents Saturday morning and said the American Heart Association advises people to do 30 minutes of exercise five times a week. Hernandez also said she recommends patients to get a minimum of seven hours of sleep at night to maintain a healthy heart. (Photo by Louis Zylka)
