ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Southwest Medical Center’s Marketing and Business Development team was recently recognized with two prestigious awards.
In April, Director Janeth Vazquez and Marketing Coordinator Rachel Downing brought home two Emerald Awards from the Kansas Association of Health Care Communicators (KAHCC) from the organization’s spring conference in Newton.
The awards honor outstanding achievements in health care marketing and public relations. This makes the second consecutive year the SWMC marketing team has earned an Emerald Award, reflecting their continued leadership in advancing health education and outreach across the region.
The hospital received the awards in the categories of special events for the 2024 Community Health Fair and Web site redesign for the recent redesign of the www.swmedcenter.com site.
Each year, Vazquez and Downing dedicate countless hours to planning the Community Health Fair, securing sponsorships through grant writing, coordinating logistics and managing every detail leading up to the event.
Vazquez said she feels the awards were well earned.
“I feel Rachel and I work hard every single year to try to put the best health fair together for our community,” she said. “It’s a lot of work. We’re about to start planning for next year’s. We work hard for about six months to put it together. It’s exhausting. It’s tiring. It’s a lot of work. This recognition is a tiny token, and it makes us feel appreciated for all of the hard work we put in to put the health fair together.”
The efforts of Vazquez and Downing helped make the 2024 health fair the largest health fair in the region, attracting more than 1,700 attendees and delivering more than 3,035 free exams.
The 2024 Community Health Fair was the first at which SWMC offered free lab screenings at the event, with more than 1,430 screenings completed, doubling the number of total screenings provided from the previous year.
Vazquez said she feels having the free exams available is what made the award possible.
“I have not heard of any health fairs in Kansas that offer free lab screenings,” she said. “I think it was something new to them as well. We’re doing everything in our power to bring more tools and resources for our community. We know we have to be creative and think outside of the box since we do have the highest uninsured rate in the whole state of Kansas. “
“We know our hard work pays off by the number of attendees and the plans for putting on the event or the outcome from the event with as many people being there to get the free screenings, but it’s nice to have an award for the recognition,” Downing said.
With nearly 20 percent of Seward County’s population being uninsured, Vazquez said she and Downing want to go above and beyond to make sure people get the screenings and the health care they need to stay healthy.
“We don’t want financial barriers to be a reason why people aren’t healthy or they’re not able to get the care they need,” Vazquez said.
The annual health fair focuses on breaking down barriers to care, including lack of insurance, transportation and language accessibility.
Likewise, Downing said she felt judges were surprised by the number of free screenings provided at the health fair.
“I don’t know if they’ve ever seen that many free screenings available,” she said.
With the free screenings and other exams available, Vazquez said the health fair is truly a one-stop shop for medical care.
“You can come to the health fair, get screened and get an overall checkup on everything for free,” she said.
While they are thankful for the recognition, Vazquez said the true reward lies in being able to save lives by offering preventative screenings.
“Yes, it’s nice to get the recognition, but the award for us is being able to save people’s lives,” she said.
“The true payoff is the improvement of the lives of everybody who attended it,” Downing said.
Vazquez said she hopes SWMC’s Community Health Fair will set a precedent in the state.
“It motivates other health institutions and city commissions to collaborate and work together to offer free screenings to the community,” she said. “This is the first time the Kansas Hospital Association has heard of a commission and a hospital uniting and being able to offer preventative screenings. We hope other health institutions across the state of Kansas are able to hear about us, hear the stories, see how it affects lives, and they start offering the same type of health fairs in their community.”
Last year’s Community Health Fair marked the 15th edition of the event, and although it was likely the largest in its history, ultimately, Vazquez said she wants to continue to see growth for the health fair.
“We want to be able to offer as many screenings as possible and continue to grow the number and the different kind of screenings for our community,” she said. “We hope this is a stepping stone to continue to grow. We’re now at 15 years, and we want it to continue to be a one-stop shop where people who can’t see their doctor, who can’t get to the hospital go to these events and make lifestyle changes and get the screenings they need.”
Also, Vazquez hopes the health fair teaches people to be proactive about their health.
“People get busy with their day-to-day lives,” she said. “They don’t put themselves first. They put all their chores or their job or their families first, and I hope people can just take this day to come and get checked. People are busy with their lives, but if they can just take one morning to come and get checked, they can one, see where they stand with their health, and two, learn and educate themselves about the lifestyle changes they need to make to continue staying healthy or even detection of some type of disease they may have.”
Downing said she hopes the success of SWMC’s health fair will show other communities in the region the possibilities for success in their own events.
“It doesn’t have to be a free event, but it could open the door to show health fairs are a necessity for rural communities,” she said. “It opens the door for them too to host their own.”
Vazquez said she also hopes the health fair encourages uninsured people to go to the event and see a doctor.
“There are many people in the community who are maybe not healthy or are feeling sick, and they don’t ever see a doctor,” she said. “I hope this opens the door for them to see a doctor and get the care they need.”
Vazquez said the health fair is truly a team effort, and the 2024 event was made possible through the generous support of sponsors, including the City of Liberal and Apex Clean Energy.
“Rachel and I are the ones receiving the award, but in reality, this award goes to everybody who has played a vital role in putting this health fair together,” she said. “I’m happy we live in a community where people are very generous and donate their time.”
Vazquez likewise thanked the physicians, volunteers and staff who give their time and expertise to make the health fair possible.
“It doesn’t matter how much planning, how much fundraising we do,” she said. “Without the volunteers, the health fair would not possible.”
“It’s our name on the award, but it’s a community award,” Downing said. “The whole community came together to make it possible.”
