CHI St. Joseph’s Community Health Hosts First Thursday Clinic

The first Thursday of the month has become synonymous with being healthy, thanks in part to the First Thursday Clinic at Catholic Health Initiatives St. Joseph’s Community Health in Park Rapids.

“It was somewhere around 7 years ago we started First Thursday, and it just has kind of a nice little ring to it. First Thursday and a time for the community to—we have some regulars that come for their A1C testing like every 3 months or 6 months depending on their doctors or depending on what their blood sugars are doing,” says Sandy Henry, a licensed practical nurse for CHI Community Health.

The clinic starts at 1 in the afternoon and ends at 3. The services are provided to any adult who’s 19 or older.

“They can have a hemoglobin A1C screening, which is a test for pre-diabetes to kind of monitor their diabetes or to see if they are at risk for diabetes. They can have a regular hemoglobin test done, which determines if they are anemic, which would be low iron. We have a free blood pressure screening, and then we also have some immunizations that are available for adults,” says Marlee Morrison, the Community Health Director for CHI St. Joseph’s Community Health.

Whether you’re a regular or a first timer, at CHI St. Joseph’s everyone is welcome. While appointments are preferred, CHI Community Health also does accept walk-ins during First Thursday. One reason why CHI Community Health chose to host First Thursday is to help manage preventable ailments.

“The [hemoglobin A1C screening] is an opportunity for people to see what their hemoglobin is or their A1C, and if they have some abnormal ranges, we than refer them to their health care provider and they are able to do further testing and study,” says Henry.

The First Thursday clinic has been a hit amongst attendees. Often times, companies will send groups of their employees to clinic, just to make sure everyone is taking care of their health.

“People really appreciate it, really appreciate the opportunity to come in. It’s just a great service for community health. We provide many services in Park Rapids from prenatal visits all the way up to these senior health screenings, so it’s just one of the ranges of things that we do,” says Morrison.

To make an appointment for First Thursday, you can give Community Health a call at (218) 237-5478.