Northern Kentucky University recently contributed $47,000 to the Health Screening Community Area Network (Health SCAN) to provide free heath screening for at least 1,000 low-income northern Kentucky residents

“The grant, part of NKU’s University-Community Partnership Program, will help Health SCAN implement the screening program, which will utilize undergraduate and graduate NKU nursing students under the supervision of certified nurse practitioners,” according to a university press release.

Health SCAN, a joint venture of NKU, Northern Kentucky Family Health Centers, Inc, and the Northern Kentucky Independent Health District, “will screen for the most prevalent problems in the Northern Kentucky area: high blood pressure, diabetes, lung problems, cancer (skin, lung, breast and prostate),” according to Dr. Denise Robinson, director of the Master of Science in Nursing program at NKU. “We will also screen for osteoporosis,” she said.

According to Robinson, “almost a quarter of Kentucky residents living below the poverty level have not visited a health care provider in at least five years, if ever.”

“We would like to concentrate on low-income people since we know their resources are limited,” Robinson said. However, “no person will be turned away,” she said.

In addition to life-saving health screens, the program “offers the potential for people to assist in their own care,” Robinson said. Health SCAN will provide participants with information on their health status and ways to improve their health, as well as, referrals, if needed.

Health Scan is partnered with the Northern Kentucky Independent Health District and Healthpoint Family Care, both of which “provide care to people with limited resources (either no cost or based on a sliding scale fee),” Robinson said.

Screenings will begin Sept. 21 at Health Point Dixie Pike in Covington and will continue for two years.

For more information on Health SCAN screening dates, times and locations, call 859-572-6535.