WILMINGTON, DE (January 21, 2015) — On January 28 and March 25, the Delaware Division of Public Health’s (DPH) Women’s Mobile Health Screening (WMHS) van will be stationed outside the Westside Health Center in Wilmington to provide mammography screenings. DPH provides funding to the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition (DBCC) to operate and staff the year-round efforts of the mammography van in partnership with Beebe Medical Center.
Appointments for mammography screenings are available from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on both dates.
Women need to obtain a prescription from their doctor and call the WMHS office to make an appointment, 1-888-672-9647.
The WMHS van provides mobile mammography services to low income, uninsured, and underinsured women. Medicaid, Medicare, and most health insurance is accepted. WMHS staff can help women apply for Screening for Life, a program of DPH that pays for the cost of a mammogram for eligible women, or find another program that can help cover the cost of a mammogram. If you have a problem with your breasts, or have had breast cancer, you should not be screened on the van.
-more-
Early detection is the best way to increase cancer survival rates and mammography screening is the best tool in use today to detect breast cancer early. The Delaware Cancer Consortium recommends screening annually beginning at age forty, depending on one’s family history. In 2014, DBCC performed 573 screening mammograms on the Women’s Mobile Health Screening Van at 23 different sites throughout Delaware. Another 140 women were scheduled, transported and/or accompanied by DBCC for interpretation to partner sites for mammograms.
The van will be parked at the Westside Health Center employee parking lot which is located on North Scott Street between Conrad and West Second Street in Wilmington. For more information about the Women’s Mobile Health Screening Van, the van schedule, or to make an appointment for a mammogram, please call 1-888-672-9647.
********************************************
About DBCC:
The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition is a 501(c)(3) organization offering statewide programs and services of education, outreach, and early detection and treatment of breast cancer. Its mission is to create a community where every person diagnosed with breast cancer is a survivor, and fear and doubt are replaced with knowledge and hope.
Headquartered in Wilmington with offices in Sussex and Kent Counties, DBCC’s programs reach diverse communities to deliver messages that address their unique concerns about breast cancer and early detection. Recognizing the barriers of language, culture, and economics, DBCC trains community advocates to educate and encourage women to take responsibility for breast health. DBCC helps women with low incomes and those with little or no insurance to receive free or reduced-cost care.
DBCC also supports the National Breast Cancer Coalition and their research efforts by helping to facilitate participation in local clinical trials. All funds raised for DBCC support programs in Delaware and the neighboring areas in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey.
