St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital offers free mammograms in October to women in need
Lavonia, Ga. – October 4, 2019 – For the seventh year in a row, St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital will provide no-cost mammograms to uninsured women and raise awareness about breast cancer during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
No-cost 3D mammograms will be provided to women in need at St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital, 367 Clear Creek Parkway, Lavonia, during the month of October. Appointments are required and will be scheduled on a first-call, first-served basis. To make an appointment, call St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital at 706.356.7808. The number of appointments available is limited.
To be eligible, women must be at least 40 years old, have no history of breast problems, be uninsured, have not received a mammogram in at least 12 months, be a resident of Franklin or Hart County, and have a primary care physician or health care provider to receive the results. Women who don’t have a primary care provider are urged to contact the Franklin County Health Department at 706.384.5575 or the Hart County Health Department at 706.376.5117.
Women receiving the no-cost mammograms will receive state-of-the-art 3D mammography, which has been shown to be about 40 percent more effective than 2D mammography in finding tumors. It also reduces the number of false alarms compared to 2D imaging.
Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in America, and about 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will develop breast cancer at some point in their life. It takes a particularly high toll among African-American women.
The good news is that most women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early. St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital encourages women to get a mammogram once a year and perform a breast self-exam once a month. Talk to a doctor about your risk for breast cancer, especially if a close family member has had breast or ovarian cancer.
For more information contact Lauren Papka at 706.356.7821.
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