MHCC to hold blood draws

In the past, Valley residents who have utilized the health and wellness blood draws from Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) have had to drive to Rawlins to attend MHCCs health fair to speak with their providers.

This year, MHCC is providing those health and wellness lab panels in the Valley, though it will look a little different than in years past due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

“Typically we do a large health fair event in Rawlins. We’re not able to do that this year because of COVID, we’re just not quite out of the woods yet in order to host that large of an event because we typically see upwards of 1,500 people that come through that health fair event,” said Stephanie Hinkle, MHCC Communications Director. “So, we made some adjustments-a lot of adjustments-and decided just to focus on the health and wellness blood draws and providing that lab information to people at discounted prices.”

Hinkle added that, with MHCC close to opening their family practice clinic in Saratoga, the hospital wanted to offer the service to Valley residents. According to Hinkle, by making adjustments to the health fair event, MHCC will be mailing results from the lab panels out within 48 hours. In some cases, those results have been received within a 24 hour period.

Another change from years past, due to COVID, is that those wishing to utilize the lab panels offered by the hospital are asked to schedule an appointment. Appointments can be made by calling the temporary location of the MHCC Health Center–Platte Valley.

While another, and separate, blood draw will be held a week after MHCCs, Hinkle said the hospital is looking at the two draws from the perspective of providing Valley residents a choice. She added that people who may not be able to make the other one might be able to attend MHCCs, or visa versa.

According to Hinkle, MHCC has worked to provide many of the labs at a lower and more competitive price for Valley residents. The Core Health Fair Panel, for example, is $40 while the Essential Panel for women is $230 and the Essential Panel for men is $250.

The MHCC Health and Wellness Blood Draws will be held April 13 and 14 at the Platte Valley Community Center in Saratoga. Appoints can be made by calling 307-315-0158.