Whether you’re young and single, married with children, or a senior citizen on Social Security, everybody feels the financial strain when faced with the rising costs of medical care. In the northwest suburbs, hospitals and local organizations are trying to help ease the burden by offering a variety of free health screenings.
Some facilities provide tests to help a specific age group, such as senior citizens. Others reach out to the general public by offering a variety of screenings on a monthly basis. But all have the same goal: Keep residents healthy.
“(The screenings) can help alert people to a potential problem, and they provide a convenient, easy way for people to check on something specific about their health status,” said Kelley Clancy, director of health promotions for Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.
Screenings are in no way a complete physical, and people should not regard them as such, but they can serve to detect specific health risks or problems, she said.
“If anything shows up, it spurs them to go to their primary physician and pursue anything else that needs to be done,” Clancy said. “It provides the population one more avenue in accessing health care.”
Routine screenings can help detect such problems as cancer, diabetes, failing vision, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
“Residents should take advantage of these services to determine if they are at risk for any serious health problems, including many forms of cancer,” said Cook County Board President John Stroger.
For many residents, the free health screenings provide an opportunity to get checked without shelling out money for a routine visit to the doctor’s office.
“We want people to stay healthy,” said public relations manager Cheryl Smith of Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington. “If we can do that by offering free screenings, then we’re offering a true community benefit.”
The following list highlights some of the area’s free health screenings. Call ahead to confirm dates or to make reservations, if needed:
– Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington offers blood pressure and diabetes screenings for people over 18 8-11 a.m. the second Thursday of each month at Crystal Point Mall in Crystal Lake.
On Oct. 10, the hospital, located at 450 W. Illinois Highway 22, will offer free depression screenings 9 a.m.-noon, 2-4 p.m. and 6-8:30 p.m. For more information, call 1-800-323-8622.
– At The Fountains at Crystal Lake, a retirement community in Crystal Lake, people ages 55 and over can take advantage of free monthly health screenings. They do not have to be residents of the retirement community.
On the first Friday of the month, hearing screenings and tests are conducted 10-11:30 a.m. Reservations are preferred, but walk-ins are welcome.
Blood pressure screening and blood sugar level testing are done 8:30-10 a.m. the first Thursday of the month.
The Fountains at Crystal Lake is on Illinois Highway 31, one mile north of Illinois Highway 176. For more information, call 815-455-8400.
– Staff members from Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village provide free blood pressure screenings for senior citizens 9:30-11:30 a.m. on the third Tuesday of the month at the Al Hattendorf Senior Center, 225 E. Elk Grove Blvd., Elk Grove Village. Walk-ins are welcome. For more information, call 847-364-7224.
For $10, rectal exams for prostate cancer will be offered through Monday at the hospital, 800 Biesterfield Rd., Elk Grove Village. Registration is required. The exam is generally recommended for men over the age of 50 or men over the age of 40 who are African-American or have a family history of prostate cancer. For more information, call 630-469-7587.
– Sherman Hospital in Elgin offers free blood pressure screenings at four locations: At the hospital, 934 Center St., 1-2:30 p.m. every Thursday; at the Ambutal Medical Center, 4900 Illinois Highway 31, Crystal Lake, 7 a.m.-10:30 p.m. every Thursday; at Sherman Family Healthcare-Elgin, 2320 Royal Blvd., Elgin, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; and at Sherman Family Healthcare-Algonquin, 600 S. Randall Rd., Algonquin, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call 1-800-397-9000.
In November, which is National Diabetes Detection Month, Sherman Hospital will offer free diabetes screenings at the hospital and the Ambutal Medical Center. Appointments are necessary; call 847-888-8991.
The hospital will hold a Halloween Safety Fair 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 26. The event will offer children a variety of free screenings, including dental, height and weight. Call 1-800-397-9000.
– At Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, 1775 W. Dempster St., there will be free pulmonary function and oxygen saturation screenings 9 a.m.-noon Oct. 12. The tests reveal lung functions and level of oxygen in the blood. Reservations are required.
Free diabetes testing will be given Nov. 3-9; appointments are necessary. Free confidential screenings for depression will be held as part of National Depression Screening Day 7-9 p.m. Oct. 10 in the Johnson Auditorium at the hospital; advance registration is required.
The hospital is joining with the City of Park Ridge in the Holistic Park Ridge Health Fair 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 19 at Lincoln Middle School, 200 S. Lincoln Ave., Park Ridge. Free health screenings will be available, and information booths will be set up.
For more information or to schedule appointments for any of the screenings, call 1-800-323-8622.
– Two or three times a month, the Cook County Department of Public Health visits the northwest suburbs with its Wellness On Wheels van. The WOW van offers such services as health counseling, tests for anemia and diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, tuberculosis testing, immunizations, urinalysis, breast exam instruction, pelvic exams and pap smears for women, and prostate and testicular exams for men.
The van service is free to suburban Cook County residents who qualify financially. To find out the van’s schedule or to make an appointment, call 847-818-2860 8:45 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday.
