By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
The Val Verde Regional Medical Center (VVRMC) will bring a public event to Comstock on
Saturday, June 7, for residents to learn about managing their heart health and blood pressure.
“Love Yourself: Keep Up With Your Health” is a free event for residents of Comstock, located in
Val Verde County about 30 miles west of Del Rio, to meet with VVMRC staff and take part in
informational sessions and take blood tests and heart checks. The event will also have cooking
sessions, exercise activities and presentations from some of the providers at VVRMC.
The event will be held at the Comstock Community Center on 68 Langtry St. and will last for two
hours, starting at 10 a.m.
Eirin Albritton, manager of public relations and marketing at VVRMC, said the free event is
hosted by VVRMC and is similar to a heart health event held at the Val Verde County
Community Center on March 1. She said the event is to help reach out and provide medical
resources to more people who cannot or do not normally go to Del Rio for a checkup.
“The biggest thing is (VVRMC’s staff offers) health care people can trust, and that is our
motto, so being out in the community and the public eye and giving people the opportunity for
people to meet our physicians is really big for us,” Albritton said. “We know not everyone has
the opportunity to go to the hospital, and so we are going to them.”
Albritton listed some of the options at the event. Marcopolo Mallen, VVRMC sous
chef, will give cooking sessions to teach Comstock residents how to make simple and healthy
meals to build a better lifestyle.
Dr. Stephen Korte, Cynthia Hernandez, VVRMC cardiology nurse practitioner, and Elaine
Coggins from the VVRMC’s cardiac rehab team will be at the event to give presentations about
heart health and other safety tips for healthy living.
There will also be exercise sessions taught by Abi Fleck Guerra, physical therapist (PT)/
lymphedema. Albritton said they will have medical staff present to allow guests to receive
check-ups on their heart rates and blood pressure, which will let people monitor their bodies in-
between exercises.
Refreshments and food will be provided, a raffle will be held for healthy food baskets and flyers,
brochures and information on all of VVRMC’s providers, such as their pediatric providers,
podiatrists and physical therapists, will be available for Comstock residents to take home with
them.
County Commissioner Pct. 3 Fernando Garcia, who helped by suggesting VVRMC hold an
event in Comstock, said how happy he was to hear about the event happening this weekend.
“Healthcare in rural areas is very important, and this event is going to bring very important
information to an underserved community. I’m looking forward to building on this healthcare event
and bringing more services to Comstock,” Garcia wrote.
