CGRMC Screening Help for Pinal County
May 11, 2010
CGRMC Foundation Receives Komen Phoenix Affiliate Mammography Grant
The Casa Grande Regional Medical Center Foundation (CGRMC) was awarded a $72,488 grant to provide free screening mammograms in Pinal County by the Phoenix Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.
Bill Angel, Director of Desert Reflections Imaging Center and the grant’s project manager noted, “Last year’s local grant screened almost 300 women in Pinal County and successfully detected four women with breast cancer who could not have afforded an annual mammogram, allowing them to begin timely treatment for this deadly disease. This year’s grant again provides screening dollars for 300 women. We are so grateful to the Phoenix Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure for providing these dollars to our community, especially at a time when so many women need routine healthcare services that they cannot afford.” To qualify for a free screening mammogram, women must be 40 years or older, have no history of breast cancer, have not had a mammogram in over a year and have no medical insurance. In addition, women with deductibles of $500 or more may also be eligible for this service. Patients may be referred to the program through Stanfield Free Clinic, Sun Life Family Health Center, primary care physicians or gynecologists.
The mammograms are performed at Desert Reflections Imaging Center, on the campus of CGRMC. Desert Reflections conducts all mammograms with digital technology, providing faster, clearer images with fewer false positives. If women do not have a primary care physician to write an order for a mammogram, Dr. Salisbury, an OB/GYN physician with the hospital can provide an order for the exam, as well as follow-up appointments and care if needed.
“Women should not let anything stop them from receiving this important annual exam,” Angel concludes.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, and the Phoenix Affiliate is one of 125 affiliates on the front lines dedicated to ending breast cancer in their communities. Komen Affiliates fund innovative programs that help women and men overcome the cultural, social, educational and financial barriers to breast cancer screening and treatment.
“Our mission of saving lives and ending breast cancer forever is a huge goal, and one that we can’t accomplish on our own,” says Pam Giannonatti, Grants Director of the Komen Phoenix Affiliate. “That’s why our grantees are so important to our organization and to our community as a whole. They truly put our funds to work by raising awareness, along with providing screening and treatment services in the communities where the need has been defined. Day by day, our grantees and the community who help us raise these funds bring us one step closer to a world without breast cancer.”
Casa Grande Regional Medical Center is a 187-bed, not-for-profit community hospital providing full-service care to Casa Grande and the communities of western Pinal County. CGRMC also provides a full range of outpatient services, including Urgent Care coverage seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and a 24-hour Emergency Department. CGRMC is a partner in healthcare, providing education and resources to the community. For more information, visit casagrandehospital.com or call (520) 381-6300.
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever, and in 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The Phoenix Affiliate is part of the world’s largest and most progressive grassroots network fighting breast cancer. Through events like the Komen Phoenix Race for the Cure, the Phoenix Affiliate has invested over $18 million in community breast cancer programs in central and northern Arizona. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds generated by the Affiliate stays in this area. The remaining 25 percent funds national breast cancer research. For more information, call (602) 544-2873 or visit www.komenphoenix.org.
To read more of this article in the Casa Grande Dispatch, click here.