By Kerry Gardner

We have good news! Billings Clinic Lab is willing to work with us to offer health fair labs this spring, April 17 and 18. They continue to have some limitations for 125 people at one drawing and we are able to offer testing on 2 days. This is as we have done for the past 3 years and Vikki Klemm and I are very thankful to continue to offer this service to our community.

We will have the same labs available of CMP-complete metabolic panel, including electrolytes, heart, kidney and liver enzymes. CBC-complete blood count, ie-RBC, WBC, HGB, HCT, TSH-thyroid hormone, LIPID PANEL-Cholesterol, Triglyercide, HDL and LDL. PSA-prostate test for men over 50, Hemoglobin-A1C for diabetics and Vitamin D level. There are all screening tests and you will obtain a copy for your provider and remember it is up to you to make sure they receive these results.

If you want the results mailed to you, please bring a self-addressed and stamped envelope with your payment or any time prior to the drawing, this can be dropped off at the Powder River Medical Clinic.

Please have an envelope for each person that has testing, as usually there is 2-3 pages and for the men with all tests can be 4 pages.

In order for your spouse or someone to pick up your results, you must sign a note stating who is able to pick up your results, we will not give them out if not notified, including spouses without your written or verbal permission. One can call the office after hours and leave a message concerning this information.

We do ask that all tests be pre-paid by April 11, 2024, this helps us with the paperwork and then we don’t have to call for payment.

Our first date will be Wednesday April 17th at the Community Center in Broadus. We will draw workers first and then draw community members starting at 7:15 am. We can draw up to 125, but if that day doesn’t work we also will draw on Thursday morning, April 18th at the Community Center for 75 people, starting at 7:15 am.

The cut off date for sign up is on April 11th, so if you have signed up earlier and have to cancel, please let us know before that date so if we have a waiting list we can add them. Please call and sign up as soon as possible so we are able to complete the paperwork and make sure we have volunteers available on each day.

Thursday morning, April 18th we will be drawing at Hammond School with Debbie Harrington as your sign up person for the Boyes/Hammond area. Please call her at 427-5383 to schedule a time. Also, please bring your stamped, self-addressed envelope and payment to her and your results will be mailed to you as soon as they are available, usually 1 week later. The Hammond Helpers 4-H Club will be serving a fund raising breakfast at the Hammond school that morning.

The success of our Health Fair is due to our faithful volunteers in this community who help year after year, in fact, most of our help has been with us for 28 years. This is a testimony to the community volunteers we have here in our area. Please thank them if and when you see them, as this event would not happen without their help. Thank you to Terri Bird, Lynnette Janssen, Cynde Trucano, Stacey Brown, Tina Thompson, Randy Sullivan, Sharon Collins, Debbie Harrington, Darlynn Williams, Taylor Price, Jaci Phillips, Leah Harrington, Krista Gnerer, Twin Klar, Lori Stokes, Tammy Bayles, Julie Collins and Abbey Barnhart. We are thankful for the opportunity to offer this service for our community and we do the best to make this work for our lab service, our volunteers and our community. Please call 406-436-2651 for questions and to register for your tests.