BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas — The Brazos County Health District is promoting men’s health with a men’s health clinic, focusing on preventative and chronic care management.
According to the CDC, men die an average of five years earlier than women.
The health district will provide an initial physical exam and lab work to look for and prevent cardiovascular disease, stroke, elevated prostate levels, diabetes, and sexually transmitted infections.
Nurse practitioner Georgette Herring wants the men in the community to be informed and safe, eliminating the stigma associated with men’s health.
“There is a stigma sometimes surrounding men’s health and we want to make that stigma go away,” Herring said. “We want to make sure that you do not feel fearful of coming in to get these lab tests done because once you know, you know.”
Leo Flores works at the health district and also gets his screening here.
He says taking precautionary measures are important.
“Many of us, especially in the Hispanic community do not have a clear knowledge of what diseases can affect mostly males, so it’s very important for us to come to the clinic and get screened everything that could be preventable for the future,” Flores said.
“Some of the things we’ll be doing here at the men’s health clinic,” Herring said. “We’ll be checking for hemoglobin A1C which is for diabetes, we’ll also be checking for cholesterol levels, as well as prostate levels, thyroid checks. We’ll also be doing STI checks.”
Flores regularly gets his sugar levels checked as well as his yearly prostate exam.
“I have to check on my sugar kind of constant to make sure I’m not getting to the point that I will acquire or develop diabetes, so it’s very important for me and also, in the past, I have done my prostate cancer check,” said Flores.
The health district has partnered with AmeriCares to provide some free medication and low-cost medications.
The initial visit will cost $100. Follow-up visits will be $75 and $50 without labs.
Walkins are welcome and insurance is not accepted.
Patients will also have access to some free and low-cost medications.
Normal operations of the men's health clinic will be Mondays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Fridays.