Project Health events to be held at hundreds of stores nationwide

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health has commenced its annual free health screening campaign, Project Health, which will visit select CVS/pharmacy stores in key markets nationwide.

The company said the Project Health wellness program, which kicked off Thursday, will deliver more than $10 million of free health services over the next four months to multicultural communities with many uninsured or underinsured people.

More than 700 Project Health events will be held at CVS/pharmacy stores in 20 markets.

Current Project Health locations include Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas-Fort Worth; Dayton, Ohio; Detroit; Houston; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Miami; Milwaukee; New Jersey; New York City; Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; Philadelphia; San Antonio; and Washington, D.C.

Project Health events also will held at CVS/pharmacy stores in Puerto Rico through November.

“Project Health is part of CVS Health’s commitment to improve access to health care and ensure that cost isn’t a barrier to important preventive services,” Troy Brennan, chief medical officer of CVS Health, said in a statement. “Our free health screenings can help identify health concerns or risk factors for participants who may not have access to care otherwise.”

Project Health offers a range of free comprehensive health risk assessments, including blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), glucose and total cholesterol screenings. The events are held in multicultural communities where residents disproportionately suffer from certain treatable conditions, such as diabetes.

“Over the years, many of the patients we’ve seen at Project Health events have had abnormal glucose screening results,” Brennan noted. “In fact, 27% of the patients screened in 2014 had abnormal glucose levels that had not been previously diagnosed. That’s three times higher than the national average.”

To help customers and patients with diabetes manage their condition, upcoming Project Health events will offer diabetes-specific information and resources to patients. Some events will feature diabetes educators who will be available to provide attendees with one-on-one guidance and support.

Project Health events, too, will make health plan representatives at select locations so people can better understand the health insurance options available to them in the marketplace, CVS said.

Once patients are screened, CVS/pharmacy will help them through on-site consultations with bilingual (Spanish/English) nurse practitioners or physician assistants, who will analyze results and refer patients who require additional medical attention to no-cost or low-cost medical facilities nearby, or to their primary care doctor if follow-up care is necessary. CVS pharmacists will be available to hold one-on-one medication reviews and answer any questions from patients.

CVS said that since 2006 Project Health has provided more than $75 million of free health care services to almost 760,000 people. Through the screenings, many areas of concern were identified, with 48% of participants found to be overweight or obese, 40% having abnormal blood pressure readings, 27% having abnormal glucose readings and 46% found to have abnormal cholesterol levels.