Cancer screening event benefits uninsured and low-income women
The annual Cancer Screening Day at Union Hospital will be Saturday, Oct. 8 with appointments available between 7-11 a.m. The free event is designed for women who are uninsured or who otherwise can’t afford these important screenings. In addition to offering a clinical breast exam by a physician and a mammogram to screen for breast cancer, women will be offered a PAP test to screen for cervical cancer.
The cancer screenings are free of charge, but an appointment is required. Call the Union Hospital community relations office at 330-602-0778.
Medical professionals volunteering their services include Dr. Juanda Vinodhkumar, a family practice physician and Dr. Steven Chismar, an OB/GYN physician, both UH medical staff members, and Deb Scott, RN, a nurse practitioner from the Tuscarawas County Clinic for the Working Uninsured in Dover.
Union Hospital is offering this program in collaboration with the Tuscarawas County Breast Cancer Coalition, the American Cancer Society, and the Regional Cancer Center at Union Hospital.
Pam Dummermuth, RN, Union Hospital’s community health and wellness coordinator, said the free cancer screening program will help provide more women with the opportunity to detect cancer early when the disease is most curable.
“We believe one of the barriers to early detection is the cost of the screening exams. Our Cancer Day screenings are provided free of charge,” Dummermuth said. “We especially want this event to serve those with low incomes or no insurance.”
In addition to the cost factor, Dummermuth said one of the reasons for late diagnosis of cancer is many women are not following the screening guidelines of the American Cancer Society to increase the chance for early detection.
“These steps include a regular PAP test, clinical breast exam by a doctor, and a screening mammogram, an X-ray that can help find breast cancer in its earliest stages.”
Dummermuth noted that women who have already been diagnosed with breast cancer or those whose last mammogram was within the last 11 months are not eligible to participate at this screening.
The cancer screenings are free of charge, but an appointment is required. Call the Union Hospital community relations office at 330-602-0778.
Medical professionals volunteering their services include Dr. Juanda Vinodhkumar, a family practice physician and Dr. Steven Chismar, an OB/GYN physician, both UH medical staff members, and Deb Scott, RN, a nurse practitioner from the Tuscarawas County Clinic for the Working Uninsured in Dover.
Union Hospital is offering this program in collaboration with the Tuscarawas County Breast Cancer Coalition, the American Cancer Society, and the Regional Cancer Center at Union Hospital.
Pam Dummermuth, RN, Union Hospital’s community health and wellness coordinator, said the free cancer screening program will help provide more women with the opportunity to detect cancer early when the disease is most curable.
“We believe one of the barriers to early detection is the cost of the screening exams. Our Cancer Day screenings are provided free of charge,” Dummermuth said. “We especially want this event to serve those with low incomes or no insurance.”
In addition to the cost factor, Dummermuth said one of the reasons for late diagnosis of cancer is many women are not following the screening guidelines of the American Cancer Society to increase the chance for early detection.
“These steps include a regular PAP test, clinical breast exam by a doctor, and a screening mammogram, an X-ray that can help find breast cancer in its earliest stages.”
Dummermuth noted that women who have already been diagnosed with breast cancer or those whose last mammogram was within the last 11 months are not eligible to participate at this screening.
Published: October 4, 2011
