‘My Health is Much Better’ Thanks to Healthy Hub at West Kendall Baptist Hospital

An article she read in Baptist Health’s Resource magazine prompted Lourdes Anaya to visit the Bamboo Cafe at the West Kendall Baptist Hospital to try out one of the eatery’s wellness meals.

She would become a regular at the Bamboo Cafe. And then one day, while walking through the lobby of the hospital, Ms. Anaya (pictured above at left) heard a nurse say something that would change her life.

“One day, I came here and a nurse says: ‘Hey, excuse me, do you want to try the Healthy Hub? It’s free,’ ” remembers Ms. Anaya, 53, who works for the Miami-Dade Public Library system.

(Watch Now: The Baptist Health News Team hears from patient Lourdes Anaya and Healthy Hub Nurse Samantha Chen. Video by George Carvalho.)

So what’s the Heathy Hub about? — Ms. Anaya recalls thinking to herself on that day.

“At West Kendall, we aim to be the healthiest community in Miami-Dade,” said Margaret Geneve, A.R.N.P., Healthy Hub manager at West Kendall Baptist Hospital. “As part of our West Kendall health initiative, we started the Healthy Hub, which is a wellness kiosk located in our lobby.”

The Healthy Hub follows the American Heart Association campaign known as “Life’s Simple 7” plan. It covers the seven key areas of prevention: Managing blood pressure, controlling cholesterol, reducing blood sugar, exercising regularly, healthy eating, weight management and not smoking.

After having her blood sugar checked at the Healthy Hub, Ms. Anaya discovered her glucose level was too high and was urged to have her doctor perform an A1C test. The A1C reflects your average blood glucose (also known as blood sugar) levels over a period of three months. It is a common blood test used to diagnose prediabetes and diabetes.

“Healthy hub is a place where we do blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar for our community and our employees in just eight minutes,” explains Samantha Chen, R.N., the Healthy Hub nurse at West Kendall Baptist Hospital. “So all different kinds of people come in — women, men, and teenagers. Some people discover they have hypertension (high blood pressure) here. Others discover they have high blood sugar and then each person is given a specific goal.”

Ms. Anaya is very grateful that she ran into the Healthy Hub nurse that day in the lobby of hospital.

“I came here (to the Healthy Hub) and she checked my numbers and my numbers were not that good,” recalls Ms. Anaya. “The nurse told me (about the A1C) and that I needed to change my diet and she gave me some information and I changed my diet and that was like a miracle. All my numbers came down and I’m very happy because my health is much better and my numbers are great.”

Tags: Healthy Hub, West Kendall Baptist Hospital