Employees get screened for diseases

Brandon Wulf isn’t taking chances when it comes to his health.

Wulf, Thorpe residence hall director, was one of more than 100 CMU
employees who attended the annual wellness screening Thursday morning
in Foust 256.

He said he came out relatively unharmed.

“It was quick, easy and painless,” Wulf said. “I’m fairly young, but
they say it’s good to be proactive about this type of stuff, and I work
on campus, so it was convenient.”

The health screening program, which was sponsored by CMU and
Wellness Inc., is designed to improve the early detection of many
diseases and conditions.

“A lot of times the tests will detect warning signs of conditions
that could develop without intervention,” said Sarah Campbell, director
of University Health Services. “So it can encourage early diagnosis and
treatment as well as prevention.”

The screening is offered at CMU once every year and is intended for
university employees, faculty, staff, their spouses and dependents over
the age of 18, Campbell said. It is one of the ways in which CMU takes
care of its employees, she said.

The program offers a wide array of blood work to help detect the
warning signs for several diseases.

“There are three separate panels of blood tests that people can
choose from and they’re basically intended to screen for serious
illness and to monitor health maintenance,” Campbell said. “Things like
cholesterol, blood glucose — people can have a thyroid screen done if
they want to — there is a whole variety of screening tests offered.”

The procedure includes testing for blood pressure as well as the
testing of bone density for osteoporosis, said Kathi Gawel, the
screening’s screening director.

The screening also is an option for those who don’t have insurance
to cover blood work that would usually be done at the doctor.

“Our blood work is cheaper than going to a doctor,” Gawel said.
“Some insurance companies won’t cover it.”

However, going to the screening and going to the doctor for a
checkup should not be thought of as the same thing.

“We tell them it is a tool for them to go to a doctor,” Gawel said.
“We are not a doctor.”