Diagnostic and Lab Tests to Precede RMH Wellness Screening Day
| Date Posted: 9/21/2015
ROCKINGHAM – As FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital prepares for its 33rd Annual Wellness Screening Day, area residents can also prepare for the event by taking advantage of the diagnostic and lab screenings preceding the actual day.
The pre-draw screenings, which will begin on Sept. 28, will include two tests that were previously offered only on Wellness Screening Day as well as two tests are new for the program.
- Usually offered on Wellness Screening Day, a urinalysis tests a urine sample for a wide range of disorders including urinary tract infection, kidney disease and diabetes. This screening will be offered free of charge during the pre-draw period.
- Body Mass Index (BMI) is a test that relates an individual’s weight to height and is used as an indication of overweight and obesity. According to the National Institutes of Health, overweight is a BMI of 27.3 or more for women and 27.8 or more for men. Obesity is a BMI of 30 or more for either sex. BMI calculations will also be offered free of charge during the pre-draw period.
- Offered for the first time this year, the basic spirometry test replaces the previously offered pulmonary function test (PFT). A basic office test, spirometry assesses how well the lungs are working by measuring how much air the individual being tested inhales and exhales and how quickly he exhales. This test will also be offered at no charge.
- Pap Smears, $25, will be performed only on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 9. This test is limited to 40 participants, and appointments are required. (Previously offered on Wellness Screening Day)
The following screenings will also be offered during the pre-draw period:
- Wellness Profile, $25, which includes cholesterol with HDL, LDL and triglycerides; glucose; complete blood count; thyroid profile; and more.
- Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), $10, a test for the detection of prostate infection, non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate and prostate cancer.
- Glycosylated Hemoglobin (A1C), $10, a blood test that looks at long-term blood sugar control.
- EKGs, $10, which tests for problems with the electrical activities of the heart.
Except for the pap smears, these tests will be offered weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. Sept. 28-Oct. 2 & Oct. 5-7. Results and interpretation will be available during Wellness Screening Day on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 8 to 11 a.m.
Blood profile results can be viewed by registering for the FirstHealth patient portal at www.myhealthcareportal.org.
According to John Jackson, president of FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital, Wellness Screening Day and the event pre-draws reach around 1,700 people annually.
“We are pleased to offer additional screenings during the pre-draw period of our annual event,” he says, “and we encourage the community to take advantage of these free and heavily discounted services. Many community health care professionals as well as members of our hospital staff donate their time to make sure these services continue to be offered while Rockingham Rotary provides a grant to help cover the costs. We are all committed to improving the health of our community.”
Basic spirometry is a new screening that will be offered free of charge during the FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital Wellness Day pre-screens. This test assesses lung function by measuring how quickly, and how much, air is inhaled and exhaled. Richmond Memorial respiratory therapist Larry Johns, R.T., (standing), demonstrates the test with respiratory therapy student Brock Callahan of Hamlet.
