Rochester District Visiting Nurse Association Offers

Wellness Clinics To The Community

Every week, rain or shine, the Rochester District VNA Clinic Nurse, Sandy Powers, RN, heads to different locations in the community, primarily to the senior housing facilities to offer wellness assessments to community members who live at these facilities. Sandy spends between 1-3 hours a month at each location and also at senior citizen recreation locations. Last year, Sandy saw over 1,700 community members and provided over 200 hours of care.

Sandy offers blood pressure, blood sugar, weight monitoring, diet and medication assistance, cardio pulmonary assessments and even assists with other medical issues that warrant her help.

These services are offered free and are an integral part of maintaining better health and potentially monitoring wellness for decreasing emergency room visits and improving quality of life. This convenience assists community members to keep better track of medical issues and identify a need to see their physician.  Sandy will quite often find an elevated blood pressure or blood sugar and assist the patient with a phone call or recommendation to see their physician.

Care Pharmacy also sponsors free clinics to the public at their store locations on a monthly basis in Rochester, Dover and Somersworth.  Many community members that attend these wellness clinics have minimal or no insurance. At these locations, Sandy does cholesterol checks at a very minimal charge which is cost effective for the community member and also keeps them on track monitoring this very important test for heart disease and other potentially dangerous health issues.

At one of our senior housing locations, 86 year old Ida Caplette (pictured) visits Sandy once a month to have her blood pressure monitored.  Ida takes medication to control her blood pressure, and Sandy helps her monitor the readings.  “Sandy’s visits are a very convenient service, and without Sandy, I would have to make more frequent visits to my doctor. I have lived in Rochester for 30 years and, this is the first place I have lived where they are interested in my health”.

Another service provided by Sandy is foot care to clients who may find they are no longer independent with this task.  Foot care consists of toe nail clipping/filing and foot assessment for diabetes or other foot conditions.

Rochester District VNA also provides the community businesses with the opportunity to have wellness clinics at their business location for better health initiative for their employees.

For more information call 332-1133.