The University of Kentucky College of Medicine, in collaboration with the colleges of pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, health sciences and communications, is preparing to host the annual free community health fair which provides services to underrepresented and uninsured residents in Lexington and the surrounding area. This year's event has been set for 1 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 7, at the BioPharm Building (College of Pharmacy), located at 789 South Limestone St. on UK's campus. "Jumpstart Your Health" is this year's theme for the community health fair. “In deciding on a theme for the year, we wanted to empower Lexington citizens to take control of their health and to be excited about making healthy decisions," said Catherine Mannon, a UK medical student and chair of the health fair's public relations and ad committee. The UK Community Health Fair, organized by UK College of Medicine students, targets all underrepresented, uninsured, low-income and no-income persons interested in access to free health care. Among its many services, the health fair will offer blood pressure checks, women’s health care, nutritional assessments, hearing and vision screenings, blood glucose and HbA1c testing, smoking cessation information, prescription review, and HIV testing. Additionally, the UK College of Dentistry is partnering with the health fair to offer free dental screenings which will be provided in the College of Dentistry building, a short walk from the health fair. Guides will be provided to direct participants to the location. For foreign language speakers attending the health fair, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Mandarin interpreters will be available on-site. Children are welcome to attend and a play area will be available during the fair. Free parking is available in the UK Chandler Hospital Parking Garage located at South Limestone at Transcript Avenue and in the UK “E” Lot on the corner of Press Avenue and Virginia Avenue. In addition, Lextran Route #5 stops at the fair site. The Community Health Fair has been a tradition at the UK College of Medicine for almost 13 years and is organized by medical students allowing them to be involved in making a contribution to the health of the community by providing access to free health services. On the day of the event, in addition to the students who have been organizing the event, members of the College of Medicine's new first-year class get involved in setting up booths, directing patients and ensuring that all equipment and supplies are available. Overall, more than 150 medical students and more than 50 students from other colleges are involved on the day of the event. For organizations interesting in donating or providing assistance for the event, the UK Community Health Fair is a non-profit organization that operates on 100 percent of donations from the community. Through a partnership with South Eastern Medical Interpreters Association (SEMIA) the Community Health Fair has attained a non-profit 501(3) status. Therefore, all donations will be routed through SEMIA and are tax-deductible. Donations can be made via PayPal through the website www.ukhealthfair.org. For more information, visit the website at www.ukhealthfair.org, or send email to Info@ukhealthfair.org.
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