Free Heart Screenings Target Spanish-Speaking Community

To help overcome language and health care access barriers, Programa Puente, a Spectrum Health Healthier Communities program, is offering free heart screenings to raise awareness and provide information to Spanish-speaking people in Kent County.

Programa Puente is focusing on these barriers as a result of a community health needs assessment which was conducted in partnership with the Kent County Health Department, community organizations and several non-profit community hospitals, including Spectrum Health. The assessment concluded that language and not knowing how to navigate the health care system are barriers for the Spanish-speaking community of Grand Rapids to receive the care they need.

Programa Puente invites Spanish-speaking adults ages 18 to 59 to receive a free heart screening on Friday, April 5 or Saturday, April 6, from 7 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., at 75 Sheldon Boulevard SE, Grand Rapids, 2nd Floor. Screenings will last 15 to 20 minutes.

The screening tests will check:

Blood pressure
Cholesterol level
Glucose level
Body mass index

Test results will be reviewed at the appointment. If the results are not normal for a healthy heart, referrals may be made for follow-up care or education.

Call 616.391.6199 to schedule an appointment with a Spanish-speaking representative.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of nine hospitals including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, a state of the art children’s hospital that opened in January 2011, and 140 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and West Michigan Heart, physician groups totaling more than 700 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with 600,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer with 19,000 employees. The organization provided $204 million in community benefit during its 2012 fiscal year.