Press Release
May 10, 2007
Contact: Jerry Carey
Phone: (856) 566-6171
careyge@umdnj.edu
Free Health Screenings, Health Insurance Assistance
at Camden Clinic on May 23
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CAMDEN — In New Jersey, members of minority and multicultural communities face a much higher risk of contracting or dying prematurely from a number of chronic and preventable diseases. To help address this concern, a nurse practitioner from the UMDNJ-School of Nursing will provide free health screenings for diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, hypertension, and tuberculosis at the Camden Community Health Center, located in the Camden OEO Building, 538 Broadway, on Wednesday, May 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Along with the free health screenings, a representative from NJ FamilyCare will also be on site to help eligible residents sign up for this federal and state funded health insurance program.
“Diseases like hypertension and diabetes are silent killers and are quite prevalent in cities, especially in poor communities,” said Dr. Fran Ward, a nurse practitioner and professor at the UMDNJ-School of Nursing. “People in these communities are also more likely to be without any form of health insurance.”
The Camden Community Health Center, located in the Camden OEO Building, is a collaborative effort of the UMDNJ-School of Nursing and the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine. The Camden Community Health Center provides health care to Camden area residents on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
NJ FamilyCare is a federal and state funded health insurance program created to help New Jersey's uninsured children and certain low-income parents and guardians to have affordable health coverage. NJ FamilyCare is for families who do not have available or affordable employer insurance, and cannot afford to pay the high cost of private health insurance.
UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.
