Union Hospital offers health screenings at convenient area locations at little or no cost

The Union Hospital Community Health and Wellness Department will offer a variety of community health screenings. A heart health screening will be available at Giant Eagle at 515 Union Avenue at Dover, Monday, Dec. 2, from 8-11 a.m.Registered nurses will be at the store to measure participants’ blood sugar and total blood cholesterol by finger stick and blood pressure. Health information will also be available. No appointment is necessary. Fasting is recommended but not required for the testing. The screening is free and open to the public. Screenings will also be offered Tuesday, Dec. 3, from 9-11 a.m. at the Salvation Army, located at 809 Emmett Ave. NW at New Philadelphia and Wednesday, Dec. 4, from 7:30-11 a.m. at Buehler’s at 417 S. Broadway, New Philadelphia. Participants can have their blood pressure measured and receive health information at this complimentary screening. Participants will also have the opportunity to have an instant lipid panel analysis. Cost of the lipid panel is $9. The lipid panel includes LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol), triglycerides and total cholesterol. This is a finger stick test and results are available to the participant after 5 minutes. Twelve hours of fasting is recommended for accurate results. An appointment is required for the lipid panel and can be made by calling Union Hospital at 330-602-0778 or online at www.unionhospital.org under Health Events. Elevated blood pressure and elevated cholesterol are risk factors for cardiovascular disease, stroke, kidney and eye disease. Early identification of these risk factors may help prevent disease.For more information about any of the screening tests offered, visit the Union Hospital website at www.unionhospital.org. Click on the Health Information link and enter the name of the screening test.