The 18th annual Health Fair will be held in Wrangell on Saturday. This year’s event will offer an additional blood test used for diabetes management.
Called hemoglobin A1c, the blood test will show how well diabetes is being controlled in a patient who has already been diagnosed with the disease, said Health Fair Organizer Cathy Gross.
The blood test can also be used as a screening test for pre-diabetes, she said.
The test helps patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes monitor blood sugar levels, as it provides information about such levels over the previous three months.
The test has been added to the list of the three other blood tests offered at the fair, which is hosted every year by the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC). A health profile test, a thyroid screen and a prostate screen for men are also available Saturday during the Health Fair at the Nolan Center from 7 a.m. to noon. All tests cost $25 each.
Gross asks those interested in the blood tests to pre-register at the Wrangell Medical Center.
“It lets us process stuff a lot sooner,” she said.
Walk-ins Saturday are also welcome, Gross said. Results from the tests are mailed to people within one to two weeks of the Health Fair, she said. People can also stop by WMC at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday two weeks following the fair for the blood tests.
Over 50 groups, organizations, businesses and federal agencies are signed up to have tables at the Health Fair.
“It’s huge, it fills up the entire Nolan Center,” Gross said.
A typical Health Fair has between 50 and 60 vendors, Gross said.
A change this year is that registration will be in the main lobby of the Nolan Center, she said.
Those who attend the fair can enter to win prizes. This year the grand prize for adults is two, round-trip tickets to Seattle, which was donated by Alaska Airlines, Gross said. Alaska Waters also donated a lower river/glacier trip for two, and a silver native bracelet.
Teenagers, ages 13 to 17, can enter to win a one-year pool pass, which includes a personal training session with personal trainer Holly Hammer.
Gross said, in past years, the prize for teenagers has been an iPod. However, she wanted a prize that would encourage exercising.
Recreation Director Victoria Martin said people will also be able to sign up for the summer’s triathlon at the Health Fair, as well as register for Hammer’s triathlon training classes.
For those 12 and under, Klondike Bike in Wrangell donated a bike to give away as a prize at the Health Fair, Gross said.
Every year, the fair draws a huge crowd young and old, Gross said.
“The goal of the Health Fair is to reach out to everybody in the community, adults and kids alike,” she said.
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