UW News

September 25, 2008

Free blood pressure screenings Thursdays at the Employee Health Clinic

UW News

How’s your blood pressure? Oh, you haven’t had it checked lately? The Employee Health Clinic, located at Hall Health, can help you with that.


Every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the clinic offers blood pressure checks in the lobby of Hall Health, located across Stevens Way from the HUB. It’s pretty informal, and it’s free.


“It’s mainly a benefit we offer for employees,” said Linda Blevins, a registered nurse in the clinic. “Although in the lobby we do also get visitors and students.”


Faculty and staff members who can’t stop by Thursday are free to call ahead for an appointment to have their blood pressure checked in the clinic itself. “We’d be happy to do it any time,” Blevins said. And some prefer that. “It’s quieter, and there’s time for discussion.”


The screenings are convenient for those individuals who need to regularly monitor their blood pressure. “We also catch people who don’t know they have high blood pressure,” Blevins said. “It’s known as a silent killer — there often aren’t a lot of symptoms. People can be walking around with high blood pressure and not know it.”


If you haven’t heard of the Employee Health Clinic, it’s probably because your job doesn’t require advance health screening or exams. The clinic provides a number of such work-related screenings and injury/exposure evaluations for UW employees other than those at Harborview Medical Center and the UW Medical Center.


The clinic works closely with the Environmental Health and Safety Department to satisfy UW and state health mandates. For example, employees who need respirators for their work must get a medical clearance before beginning.


The clinic also provides special physical examinations required for participants in the UW Scientific Divers Program and the UW Police.


The Employee Health Clinic also is available to evaluate and treat minor, non-emergency work-related injuries during its work hours, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.


Blevins added, “All of us at the Employee Health Clinic feel strongly that wellness is an important part of what we do.”


For more information about the blood pressure screenings and the work of the Employee Health Clinic, call 206-685-1026 or visit online at http://depts.washington.edu/hhpccweb/index.php?ClinicID=3.