New Testing arrives at Redwoods Rural Health Center

Blood Lead Analyzer

The negative impacts of lead poisoning in children are a serious concern and many children in Humboldt go unscreened. This is a particularly concerning problem as even small amounts of lead can harm a young child’s development forever linking them with diminished cognitive ability and poorer lifelong health. To address the issue, the RRHC medical team purchased a Blood Lead analyzer, perfect for in-house blood lead screening which will help us provide better patient care and improve health outcomes for our community.

Cologuard® Testing

Another positive change coming to RRHC is a switch to Cologuard® from FIT (fecal immunochemical test) for colon cancer screening. Cologuard® is a more robust test that detects cancers 3 times as well compared to FIT. Cologuard® also requires less testing: every three years compared to FIT’s yearly requirement. Redwoods Rural is particularly excited by the switch as Cologuard® coordinates with the patients for easy shipping and keeps you engaged through the process. 



Make your appointments today to screen not only yourself but your little ones locally, here in Redway.

Redwoods Rural Health Center seeks to raise the bar

2023 saw the reduction in age requirement to begin screening for Colorectal Cancer. Instead of 50 years of age, patients are encouraged to begin screening for colorectal cancer at age 45. That is because Colorectal cancer is on the rise and is now a leading cause of cancer death in the United States. But all is not lost! Colorectal cancer is one of the easiest cancers to prevent and outcomes are very favorable when caught early. This is why screening is so important. Screening helps prevent cancer by finding precancerous polyps (abnormal growths) so they can be removed before they turn into cancer.  Screening also helps find colorectal cancer early, when treatment can be very effective. But don’t wait to get screened! Precancerous polyps and colorectal cancer don’t always cause symptoms, especially early on. Also, Most colorectal cancers occur in people with no family history of the disease.

Redwoods Rural patients have achieved mixed results when it comes to screening for colorectal cancer. Redwoods Rural’s screening rates have remained below 50% for the last five years. By 2030, Redwoods Rural is expected to screen 74% of its adult population. 

Redwoods Rural clinical success is measured by the Uniform Data System (UDS) which records the success of other federally qualified centers too. To see more, please visit https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/data-reporting/program-data.

What is UDS? Each calendar year, federally qualified health centers are required to report a core set of information, including data on clinical processes and health outcomes as part of a standardized reporting system known as the UDS.