OLEAN, N.Y. — Dozens of dental and medical professionals are planning to conduct a health fair for the uninsured June 10-11 at St. Bonaventure University.
The volunteers will turn the Reilly Center into a huge suite of free dental clinics, health screening and preventive health information from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days, county Public Health Director Dr. Kevin Watkins said Tuesday at a Cattaraugus County Board of Health meeting at Good Times of Olean.
The free fair is being sponsored by St. Bonaventure University and Remote Area Medical, a Tennessee-based group dedicated to binging dental and health services to underserved areas.
The Eighth District Dental Society and Foundation, in partnership with the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine, is planning the health fair with Remote Area Medical.
Watkins said he expects hundreds of adults and children will receive dental care at the health fair that weekend, including cleaning, fillings and extractions.
The link between oral health and general health will also be detailed by dental students at the fair.
In addition, vision services including eye exams, glaucoma testing and diabetic retinopathy will be offered. Glasses will be made on-site.
The health fair will also provide general medical and preventative services like breast exams, diabetes screening, physicals and women’s health services.
Cattaraugus County Health Department employees will also be on hand to distribute health information, Watkins told members of the health board.
With an estimated 10 percent of families in the county lacking health insurance or not covered by Medicaid, Watkins said this is an opportunity for those people to have access to dental care. Follow-up services in the area will also be recommended, he said.
“This is a good promotion for our county,” Watkins said.
He expects the sponsoring groups will have more information about the fair in coming months.
Noting March is Colorectal Cancer Month, Madelyn Thornton, director of the Cancer Services Program of Allegany and Cattaraugus Counties, asked health board members to encourage people over age 50 to be screened for the disease, which is the second-leading cause of death in Cattaraugus County.
For the uninsured and those who may be apprehensive at the thought of a colonoscopy, Thornton said the Cancer Services Program has a kit available that tests stool samples mailed to a lab, which can indicate the presence of abnormalities. The test results can also be used to encourage someone to have a colonoscopy.
“It’s better than no screening at all,” she explained.
Because of the high incidence of the disease across the Southern Tier counties, the Cancer Services Program is encouraging more people to get screened, she added.
“It’s completely preventable when detected early,” Thornton said.
To attract more attention to the serious nature of colorectal screening, Thornton said the Cancer Services Program is using an inflatable colon to illustrate at some events, including March 14 at the health department offices in Olean.
In 2016, a survey found 71 percent of state residents over age 50 had been screened for colorectal cancer, up from 58 percent in 2015. The state health department estimates eight women and seven men die from colon cancer annually in Cattaraugus County.
Across New York, an estimated 4,600 men and 4,700 women will be diagnosed with colon cancer this year, Watkins said. About 1,600 men and another 1,600 women will die from the disease.
