Good health shouldn't depend on how far you live from town.
Wellfield Health brings free, one-day preventive health camps to rural communities: blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, BMI and vision screenings, plain-language health education, and a clear next step for anyone who needs one.
Care that reaches people where they are.
Rural Iowa feeds the country, but when it comes to health care, distance does the deciding. The nearest clinic is a drive away, the appointment is weeks out, and the "we'll see" turns into years. By the time high blood pressure or diabetes announces itself, the damage is done.
Wellfield Health exists to close that gap with something simple: a free, one-day health screening camp set up in a place people already trust — a church hall, a community center, a school gym. No insurance card, no appointment, no bill. Just your numbers, explained by someone who cares, and a real next step if something needs attention.
A wellfield is a group of wells that draw from one shared source. That is how we think about our work: many small camps, in many small towns, all drawing on the same commitment — that where you live should never decide how well you live.
The farther you live from a city, the farther you live from care.
The numbers below are national, and Iowa is no exception. Every one of them is a reason a free screening camp is not a luxury but a lifeline.
Full citations on our sources page.
One Saturday. One town. Two hundred neighbors.
A Wellfield camp is deliberately simple, so it can happen anywhere and be repeated every month.
- A sponsor funds a location or a community invites us to come — then we pick a date and a familiar venue.
- Five screenings in about 45 minutes: blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, BMI, and vision.
- Health education, in plain language — what the numbers mean and what to do about them.
- A next step for anyone who needs one: a referral to nearby, affordable care, with the paperwork started before they leave.
Most of what we screen for is silent — until it isn't.
High blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol rarely cause symptoms early on. They are also among the most treatable conditions in medicine once they are found. A 45-minute screening can be the difference between a prescription and a stroke.
People in rural counties already die of heart disease at a higher rate than people in cities — 189 deaths per 100,000 compared with 156 (CDC/NCHS). Finding the problem early, close to home, is the most effective thing we can do.
The Iowa most people drive past.
Farm families, retirees, seasonal workers, the people who run the café and the co-op. Many are uninsured or underinsured; nearly all are a long way from a doctor.
For the price of a coffee a day, you can put your name behind a camp.
Monthly sponsors are how camps happen every month instead of once in a while. Three ways to help:
A foundation in your name
Two camp locations every month, named for your foundation — about 200 people a month.
Learn moreA camp with your name on it
A camp location dedicated to you each month, plus a Wellfield shirt.
Learn more
Know a community that needs this?
If you are selected to host a camp, we hand you a comprehensive planning document and a member of our team works alongside you for the two months leading up to camp day. You bring the place and the people; we bring the plan.