Vascular Screening Program travels to Duluth Clinic-Virginia
DULUTH - Patients in the Virginia area can benefit from SMDC Health System’s Vascular Screening Program without making a trip to Duluth. Each month, the screening program is traveling to a different Duluth Clinic site in the region to offer the service close to home. The program will visit Duluth Clinic-Virginia on Friday, August 6.
The screening includes three painless tests to detect stroke-causing plaque in the carotid artery in the neck, an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and the presence of peripheral arterial disease. The cost is $60, and includes a session with a vascular nurse to learn more about the results.
It’s recommended only for people who are at risk for these vascular diseases. They should be over age 50 and have additional risk factors, such a history of smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, a family history of aortic aneurysm, a diagnosis of heart disease or a family history of heart disease, and leg pain while walking or pain the foot when it’s elevated in bed.
The information is given to the patient’s primary doctor for appropriate treatment and monitoring. Patients can call (218) 786-8318 to find out times and locations, make an appointment, and check their risk factors. The toll-free number is 1-800-342-1388 (ask for the Vascular Surgery Department).
“By bringing this program out to the various regional clinics, we get to expand it to the largest number of people possible,” says SMDC Vascular Surgeon Christopher DeMaioribus, MD, head of the screening program. “In a lot of cases, people who live in more rural areas don’t have the same access to specialty care. By detecting vascular disease early, we can try to modify whatever risk factors we can, as well as enroll those people into surveillance programs to detect if the disease worsens.”
Because the $60 patient screening fee doesn’t cover the costs to operate the program, charitable donations are needed to bring this service to the community. If interested in making a donation, you can mail the check to: SMDC Foundation, Attn: Megan Kern, 400 East Third Street, Duluth, MN 55805. Please make the check to the SMDC Foundation, and write “Cardiovascular Screening Program” on the subject line.
The screening program is hitting the road, thanks in part to a grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation. The organization has donated $50,000 a year for two years to fund efforts to bring the vascular screenings to the region.
Submitted by Kim Kaiser, SMDC Public Relations, (218) 786-4154.
