More than 600 people turned out to the Bainbridge Mall on Thursday to get health screenings and information offered for free or at low cost by Memorial Hospital at its annual health fair.

The health fair, which ran from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., was especially popular in the early morning, with health professionals conducting screenings for 200 people within the first hour, said Jan Godwin, the hospital’s public relations director.

The hospital’s laboratory technologists, technicians and phlebotomists did 602 wellness profiles and 261 PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) tests at the Community Health Fair Thursday, according to Godwin.

The hospital’s successful health fair has been held for more than a decade now; in fact, the hospital recognized the 8,000th person to participate in the health fair. That lucky person was Edna Ward, who received free blood work and a gift bag from Memorial Hospital and Manor.

The health fair also include free screenings and educational materials provided by local health-related organizations.

Memorial Hospital and Manor’s Respiratory Therapy Director Ed Newton conducted pulmonary function tests.

Mike Sims, an optician with Bainbridge Ophthalmology, conducted vision and glaucoma screenings.

Liv Warren of the YMCA performed body fat analysis.

Sheila Brantley, LMT, of Memorial’s Rehab Department, gave seated massages. Bainbridge College LPN students conducted blood pressure checks.

Lisa Kelley, patient representative, provided information about medical advance directives (living wills).

Before mailing results, Laboratory Manager Jodi Scott looks over each report to check for “critical” values, either too high or too low. Those patients with critical values were contacted.

Many were out of the normal range and flagged as “H” or “L” on the reports. Results will be mailed to participants within two weeks and each person should take the results to his/her physician. The hospital does not mail the reports to physicians, however the patient’s physician is contacted for any results that are critical.