Plains clinic provides free health screenings

Most people go to church for spiritual healing, but on Friday at the Gospel Way Church in Plains, it was more of a physical healing. It was "Free Health Screening Day" at the church, put on by the Costner Care Family Clinic.

Eight people from Plains, Heron and Lewistown, Montana, ranging in age from 22 to 75 took part in the free screening session at the church building along Railroad Street on the west side of Plains. This is the second free screening David Costner and his crew of volunteers have conducted for the community. The first was done at the Open Door Baptist Church at Thompson Falls in April. It took the volunteers about an hour to move the equipment from the clinic into the Gospel Way Church, which is located only two doors from the Costner Care Family Clinic. Costner said he holds the screenings at a church for a specific reason. "We want to remind people that their spiritual health matters, too, and that healthcare is best delivered following the Golden Rule: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' which comes from Matthew 7:12 - 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you: do ye even so to them,' " said Costner, a family nurse practitioner who converted part of his home into a clinic he opened in July 2021.

Costner graduated from Southern Adventist University in 2010 and has 11 years as a primary care provider, including five years at Clark Fork Valley Hospital. His wife, Julie, one of the medical volunteers Friday, has been a registered nurse for 26 years and is a graduate of the Mercy School of Nursing in Charlotte, North Carolina. His son Elijah, also a volunteer, graduated as a licensed registered nurse student in May and is training to become a limited x-ray technician. In addition, Jen Fratzke, an EMT from Noxon, Brandi Jones, an EMT of Heron, Emma Mortenson, an EMT student of Plains, Elizabeth Overholt, a registered nurse of Plains, also volunteered their time. Costner's children, Jordan and Savannah, helped by registering patients and entering data.

Even with only eight people participating in the event, Costner believes it to be a success because it is what God called them to do. The screenings ran for four hours and included five stations to check a person's vital signs, pulse, respiratory, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, blood sugar content and EKG, which records the electrical signal of the heart. Chris Mull, the church's pastor, was the first patient.

Costner said the screening was similar to one a patient would get at an annual physical. Most of the people went through each station, which took only about five minutes each, but Costner said some chose only one or two stations. And patients received immediate results. The free screenings would have cost a person around $300. Costner is considering adding a cholesterol check and pulmonary function tests at the next event, which would be valued about $600 per person.

Costner said screenings are an important part of remaining healthy and he is pleased to offer this service. "Some things are more important than the financial bottom line. We are blessed to live in a community that knows we need each other and it's time to give back," he said.

Most of the clinic's patients reside in the Plains area, but they also traveled from Heron, Lonepine, Noxon and Thompson Falls, along with patients from St. Regis, DeBorgia, Missoula, and even Helena. They are in the process of remodeling the clinic to double its space and are adding more advanced equipment. "None of this could have happened without our community or our faith, which teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves," said Costner, who also said he is grateful for the neighbors and friends in western Montana who entrusted their care in the clinic.

The free health screenings were a service of Costner Care Family Ministries, a new 501c3 nonprofit in Plains. He said people can donate to the program online at https://costnercarefamilyministries.com. He plans to hold future screenings on Saturday mornings, which he believes might be more convenient to those who work. He is scheduling a free screening day on November 5 at the Church of God in Paradise and on February 25 at the Plains Alliance Church.

Costner said he holds these free screenings as a way to thank the community for its support and it is also an opportunity to share the love of Christ. "We actually want to see the community caring for one another," said Costner, "providing opportunities to volunteer, and greater sense of community and purpose outside of our life at the clinic."