FORT CAVAZOS, Texas – The Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center provided parents the opportunity to get their children’s sports and school physicals early in conjunction with its first Kidz Fest Aug. 3.
Family members enrolled in CRDAMC clinics got to make appointments at the hospital’s pediatric clinic or walk in to and Family Medicine Residency clinic during the Saturday event.
The hospital has offered school and sports physicals annually and plans to make the Kidz Fest an annual event offering games, arts & crafts, reading, prizes and a backpack raffle.
Lt. Col. Theresa Suggs, chief, Army Public Health Nursing, CRDAMC, got the Kidz Fest started during the opening ceremony.
“I’d like to welcome you all to our first ever CRDAMC Kidz Fest, held in conjunction with our annual school and sports physicals,” Suggs said. “I’m happy to see you all here… and we’re very pleased to be able to bring you all together for our military families.”
Col. Garrick Cramer, hospital commander, CRDAMC, thanked the 30 plus vendors, the team that coordinated the event, and providers and staff doing the physicals behind the scenes for being a pivotal part of taking care of family members and all the family members that came out.
“As you all know my child is much grown up and I remember back in the day we pcsed right before school started, so there are lots of stresses on life,” Cramer said. “This kind of event is what reduces some of that stress.”
The team jumped right into the backpack drawing after the opening ceremony and Lt. Col. Omar Shami, commander, 11th Field Hospital, and his wife, Tae Jung Park, had the winning tickets for the first two.
Hospital departments and participating vendors donated the 40 backpacks filled with school supplies.
Shami commented that his family is pcsing this month to Virginia and had a great experience at the event.
“I tell you it was really great, we found out about this,” Shami said. “We made appointments early and from the time we stepped in people greeted us, showed us where to go, checked us in very quickly, and we were on time for our appointments.”
“Handling three boys is always a little bit of a challenge, but they did a great job and the physicals went well, and I really couldn’t have been more happy about the process,” he added.
Shami commented that the children were stoked about winning the backpacks, and that they didn’t get shots, so it was a win, win for all of them.
A couple of the vendors at the event were child & youth services on Fort Cavazos, and the infection and prevention branch of the hospital.
“My focus is hand hygiene, promoting it at school as well as at home, and ensuring that parents understand that it’s important for them and the children to be vaccinated,” said Juliana Luciano, branch manager, infection prevention and control, CRDAMC.
This prevents them from getting themselves and others sick and helps the children develop a strong immune system, she added.
CYS provided family members registration packages to sign up for not only childcare but its youth sports and fitness programs, which offers team and individual sports and camps, and its nutrition program.
“I think the most important piece is that they are learning a little bit more about what CYS has to offer,” said Kristine Caparco, school liaison officer, child & youth services, Fort Cavazos. “We’re here to help make that connection with not only CYS, but with the local school districts.
Eligible beneficiaries interested in signing up for CYS can call the Fort Cavazos office at 254-287-8029 to receive more information.
“Our overarching goal is to increase military family resiliency, and so the more resources that are available the more resilient families will be,” said Suggs. “This is the first time that we’ve brought this many community partners together for the anuual school physicals. We hope for next year to have it to continue to grow.”
Even if your child doesn’t need a school of sports physical, it’s a great event to come out to, because there are lots of resources here and we hope to expand it, she added.