Longmont’s Barbara Keith is a 9Health Fair veteran, visiting the sites every year they were open for free health screenings and blood tests. This year was no exception.
“I like to come here to get a second opinion on my blood work and to have any other questions about my health answered,” Keith said Saturday as she left the Health Fair site at the Boulder County Campus at Front Range Community College. “Plus, it’s a good community event. I like to support what they do.”
Saturday was the first day of the nine day circuit of 9Health Fairs across the state, Kari Williams, a Front Range faculty member and coordinator of Saturday’s event, said.
The 9Health Fair returned to Longmont after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 restrictions, Williams said. The 2019 Health Fair at the Boulder County Fairgrounds drew 1,200 people over two days for screenings and to consult with medical professionals, she said.
“It was great, it was such a huge venue,” Williams said.
Williams said she couldn’t arrange to get the Fairgrounds in time for this year’s fair. She expects at least 400 people to show up Saturday.
Williams oversees an almost all-volunteer crew which is smaller than in past years. “We just can’t get enough volunteers, certainly not enough to handle a two-day fair,” she said. “And these health fairs are 100% driven by volunteers.”
All three Front Range campuses are hosting 9Health Fairs in April and each event is open to all ages.
The fairs provide health screenings that are vital to maintain good health, Williams said. Many major diseases go undetected because they show no signs or symptoms, she said.
“This is the place where you can find out where you stand health-wise,” Williams said.
