Renea Duffin, vice president for cancer support and outreach at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, gives a tour of the center?s new mobile medical clinic at its dedication Thursday at Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma.
Chris Heller/Staff
Published: Friday, July 19, 2013 at 9:52 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, July 19, 2013 at 9:52 p.m.
A new mobile unit is hitting the road to bring cancer screenings to local communities in hopes of catching cancer diagnoses early and improving survival rates.
The Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at TGMC dedicated its new state-of-the-art mobile clinic this week.
The clinic has three exam rooms and ample space to assure that patients can be screened privately. It will provide services at convenient times and locations, including weekday evenings and weekends in Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Mary parishes.
The mobile clinic will provide free screenings for breast, prostate, skin, oral and colorectal cancers for uninsured and under-insured residents.
?It will be able to go to many communities to offer screenings for those who can?t get to the hospital,? said Terrebonne General Medical Center CEO Phyllis Peoples.
Since 2002, Mary Bird Perkins and its partners across southeast Louisiana have screened more than 50,000 people for cancer. The organization began operating its first mobile clinic in 2006, providing screenings across an 18-parish service area.
Todd Stevens, president and CEO of the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, said the new mobile unit came about when the organization?s board was exploring ways to accelerate access to the centers? services.
The mobile unit began operating in April.
In 2012, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation granted Mary Bird Perkins $2 million to purchase an additional unit, including $750,000 to purchase the vehicle and $1.25 million to operate it for five years.
The money came from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation?s Fund for the Future of the Gulf, which was established by BP to assist long-term issues affecting people, wildlife and the environment after the 2010 oil spill.
So far this year, the hospital has held 31 screenings and screened 473 people. Three patients were diagnosed through those screenings, two breast cancers and one skin cancer.
There will be screenings throughout the year, including the hospitals annual prostate screening in September. The hospital typically screens more than 300 men on that one day.
Death rates from cancer are higher than average in many Louisiana parishes due largely to late-stage diagnosis.
Hospital officials said that expanding access to cancer screenings is critical to detecting cancer earlier, when more treatment options are available and better outcomes are possible.
?We all want to beat cancer,? said Jeffrey Long, a radiation oncologist with the cancer center. ?Catching cancer early saves lives and this new mobile unit will do just that.?
Offering more free screenings to at-risk populations in the region is a critical part of the center?s mission to improve survival rates and lessen the burden of cancer, said Renea Duffin, vice president of cancer support and outreach at the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.
Screening dates and other information can be found at marybird.org/tgmc.
Staff Writer Nikki Buskey can be reached at 448-7636 or nicole.buskey@houmatoday.com.
Source: http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20130719/articles/130719501
tesla model s tesla model s Black Ops 2 Secede ben roethlisberger Diwali elmo
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.