WELLNESS PROGRAMS: Bashas'

JEFF WELLS

At a time when retailers were only considering in-store medical services, Bashas' was already leading the way with its popular screening program, HealthStyles, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Rotating through Bashas' family of stores during nine months of the year, HealthStyles offers an exhaustive array of testing services to customers — everything from allergy exams to ultrasounds. The program also offers blood workups and screening for serious conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

“It is extremely comprehensive, and what we try to do is screen the whole body during the nine months of our program,” said Irene Brandt, coordinator for the HealthStyles program. “We may offer eye screenings one month, and we may focus on heart disease another month.”

Unlike many of the retail clinics expanding across the supermarket industry, HealthStyles is strictly a screening program. If any tests raise a red flag, customers are referred to their physicians. This aspect alone has garnered the respect of the medical community, which has tended to be skeptical of retail clinics. According to Brandt, many doctors actually encourage their patients to visit the HealthStyles center when it rolls into their town.

Bashas' is also taking a serious look at nutrition. Just this April, the retailer hired its first dietitian, Barbara Ruhs, who is right now featured in Bashas' ad circular and in the future hopes to offer store tours, expand in-store services, and more.

“It brings the message to the local level, so you have somebody in the community that you get to know,” said Ruhs.