Cancer is something that can catch a person completely off guard. But, when it comes to colon and colorectal cancer, a colonoscopy can help detect and prevent cancer before it really begins. For one Mercer County resident, a recent experience demonstrates both the risk of waiting and the relief of acting on the opportunity for getting that colonoscopy.

SMC Hospice's Annual Grape Escape Fundraiser is on Friday, March 24 at Hazen City Hall. Enjoy a social evening of hors d’oeuvres and drinks as well as silent and live auctions. Tickets are $40 in advance or $45 at the door. Call 7017487380 to reserve your ticket!

In partnership with Coal Country Community Health Center and Knife River Care Center, we offer an onsite practical nursing program through Bismarck State College. The program allows individuals in surrounding communities to pursue a nursing career through non?traditional means and eliminates the need to travel to do so.

Help support SMC Hospice and make someone's day by sending them cookies this Valentine's Day! Order forms are available at Krause's, Bronson's, Beulah Drug, and Hazen Health Pharmacy, or by calling the Hospice Office at 7017487380. Deliveries will be made to local businesses, schools, power plants/mines (sorry, no home deliveries). Suggested donation: $10 minimum per tray. Order deadline: Wednesday, February 8, at 4:30 p.m. Cookies will also be sold on Monday, February 13, from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Hazen City Hall, while supplies last.

Sakakawea Medical Center Foundation is participating in Giving Hearts Day to raise money that will allow SMC to continue to meet current and future healthcare needs in our area.

November is Hospice and Palliative Care Month! Hospice offers you and your loved ones supportive care when a cure isn't possible. Palliative Care brings pain and symptom management earlier in the course of a serious illness. Both types of care provide solutions beyond the walls of the hospital.

In the fall of 1918, Hazen got an inadvertent and temporary hospital when its new school building was equipped with 24 beds and a staff of five Bismarck nurses to cope with the Spanish influenza epidemic. The facility closed shortly after. There was not even a temporary hospital when a sleeping sick ness (encephalitis) epidemic hit the community in the spring of 1923.

The Annual Meeting of the Hazen Memorial Hospital Association will be held on Thursday, October 27 at Hazen City Hall. Free blood pressure screenings will begin at 5:00 p.m. Supper will be served at 5:30 p.m., with the business meeting following at 6:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Sakakawea Medical Center and Coal Country Community Health Center are pleased to welcome Ann Ruffo, DO, to our team. Dr. Ruffo will primarily be serving patients at CCCHC Hazen. She will also be providing care in the emergency room at SMC.

The 17^th Annual SMC Foundation Charity Golf Classic was held June 18 with seventeen teams participating. The goal of this event is to assist SMC Foundation is securing funding needed to help SMC continue to provide quality healthcare close to home.