CVS/pharmacy's "Project Health" Will Deliver More Than $21 Million Worth of Preventive Health Screening Events Across the U.S. in 2012

Published on Thursday, 09 February 2012 08:23 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

Wellness program aims to help African American and Hispanic consumers on their path to better health with more than 1,000 free health screening events

WOONSOCKET, R.I., Feb. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS/pharmacy, the nation's leading retail pharmacy, announces today the launch of Project Health (Proyecto Salud in Spanish), a wellness program delivering more than $21 million worth of free health screenings to multicultural communities.

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The program, which aims to prevent disease through early detection, grew from CVS/pharmacy's highly successful To Your Health/A Su Salud campaigns. This year, Project Health will offer an array of free comprehensive health risk assessments and screenings during five disease-specific national health awareness months from American Heart Month (February) to Diabetes Awareness Month (November). Over 1,000 Project Health events are scheduled for 2012 in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Events are also planned at CVS/pharmacy locations in Puerto Rico.

"We know that for a variety of reasons multicultural populations have difficulty accessing and benefitting from preventive care," said Troyen A. Brennan, M.D., M.P.H., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, CVS Caremark. "Making this issue even more disconcerting, these same patients disproportionately suffer from certain treatable conditions, like high blood pressure and diabetes. Through Project Health, CVS/pharmacy will work to achieve better health outcomes among multicultural populations and is once again making the commitment to helping people on their path to better health."

Project Health is a part of efforts by CVS/pharmacy to improve access to preventive care and ensure that cost is not a barrier to important services, like professional health assessments and screenings. Project Health events, while offered to address and raise awareness of ethnic health disparities, are open to everyone and will not require an appointment.

Medical personnel will be on hand to provide diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and osteoporosis screenings, and examine patients for oral care issues.  Referrals for mammograms and pap smears will also be provided as well as consultations with nurse practitioners and CVS pharmacists. A selection of screenings will be available at each event.

Once screened, CVS/pharmacy will help patients through on-site consultations with bi-lingual (Spanish/English) nurse practitioners who will analyze the results and refer patients to no-cost or low-cost medical facilities within that neighborhood or to their primary care physician should additional follow-up be required.

In 2011, CVS/pharmacy provided free and low-cost medical screenings and services valued at $150 per person through the To Your Health/A Su Salud programs.  Over 162,000 people were screened during last year's events, underscoring the demand for these important services. Of the individuals screened, many health concerns were discovered, including:

• 57 percent had at least one abnormal screening result
• 48 percent had at least one abnormal risk factor for heart disease
• 42 percent had risk factors for osteoporosis 
• 27 percent had abnormal glucose readings

The Project Health events will be held at designated CVS/pharmacy locations on weekdays only from 3 – 7 pm daily with no appointment necessary during American Heart Month (February), National Minority Health Month (April), Immunization Awareness Month (August), Dental Hygiene Awareness Month (October) and Diabetes Awareness Month (November). For more information, and a full calendar of Project Health events, please go to www.cvs.com/projecthealth or call 1-800-SHOP-CVS.

CVS Caremark is committed to serving people from all walks of life, diverse cultures and lifestyles within the markets in which we operate. As part of these efforts, CVS/pharmacy conducts Project Health in multicultural communities across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, stocks stores with a product assortment that appeals to diverse cultural groups, provides in-language signage where appropriate and distributes prescription medication related information in multiple languages. 

About CVS/pharmacy

CVS/pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE: CVS), is America's leading retail pharmacy with more than 7,300 CVS/pharmacy and Longs Drug stores. CVS/pharmacy is reinventing pharmacy to help people on their path to better health by providing the most accessible and personalized expertise, both in its stores and online at CVS.com. General information about CVS/pharmacy and CVS Caremark is available at http://info.cvscaremark.com.

CONTACT:

Jeff Ventura

CVS Caremark

401-770 1990

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SOURCE CVS/pharmacy