Patrick Traynor, Health and Human Services Interim Commissioner | North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services
Patrick Traynor, Health and Human Services Interim Commissioner | North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services
The third annual Gateway to Health event will take place on Saturday, Aug. 23 in Bismarck, offering families free access to North Dakota’s Gateway to Science during pre-registered two-hour sessions. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features more than 25 exhibitors with activities, games, and prizes focused on health and well-being.
The event is co-sponsored by North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS), Bismarck State College, and North Dakota’s Gateway to Science. Exhibitors include organizations such as Job Service North Dakota, which will provide a virtual reality headset demonstration; the American Heart Association with hands-only CPR training; and CHI St. Alexius Health offering blood pressure checks and general immunizations.
Other featured activities are flight simulators from Bismarck Aero, the Vision Zero crash simulator, and the University of North Dakota’s Simulation in Motion - North Dakota mobile health education truck. Additional participants include Missouri Valley Family YMCA, Family Wellness of Bismarck-Mandan, the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, North Dakota Highway Patrol, Bank of North Dakota, Mandan Police Department, Metro Area Ambulance, Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, Western Plains Public Health and NDSU Extension.
The HHS mobile medical unit will be present at the event with team members providing information about emergency preparedness, disease prevention initiatives like Medicaid child wellness visits as well as behavioral health resources.
Krissie Mayer, HHS Community Engagement Unit Director said: “To achieve our vision of North Dakota being the healthiest state in the nation requires working closely with community partners to focus on prevention and early intervention and connecting North Dakotans to programs, services and resources that can meet their unique needs.”
Those interested in attending are encouraged to preregister by Aug. 21 at bismarckstate.edu/gatewaytohealth for one of three time slots: 10 a.m.-12 p.m., 12-2 p.m., or 2-4 p.m.