YKHC health fair pushed same-day care, and no date is set for the next one

Forty-eight people received diabetes screening and monitoring during a three-hour health fair at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital Gathering Place in Bethel on July 29. YKHC says the goal was promoting its same-day services.

Those included mammograms, cervical cancer screening, tuberculosis tests, tobacco cessation enrollment and PCV20, a one-time pneumococcal shot after age 50. Staff handed out indoor air toolkits with carbon monoxide detectors, air quality monitors and moisture meters, backpack reflector kits, and booklets listing YKHC's same-day cancer screening options.

The Medicaid Enrollment team distributed nine applications. One came back complete; two needed further help.

YKHC has announced no date for another fair. Its mobile mammography unit visits Toksook Bay Aug. 24 to 28; contact a sub-regional clinic to schedule. Weekly Wellness Wednesday diabetes classes meet in the hospital's Wellness Center Classroom.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation is a tribal health organization of 58 federally recognized tribes serving 58 communities across 58,000 square miles. It runs 41 village clinics, five subregional clinics and the region's only hospital, in Bethel. Many communities are more than an hour away by air, weather permitting.