Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504280039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The mobile unit was formally launched Thursday by Virginia's first lady, Susan Allen, who urged her audience in the Wythe County Community Hospital parking lot to spread the word about the importance of early breast cancer detection.
The unit is owned by the newly formed Western Virginia Community Health Services, a consortium of five hospitals and the New River and Mount Rogers health districts.
Participating hospitals are Wythe County Community, Smyth County Community, Twin County Community in Galax, Radford Community and Giles Memorial. The program will serve Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles, Floyd, Wythe, Carroll, Bland, Smyth and Grayson counties and the cities of Radford and Galax.
"There is a high incidence of breast cancer within our region, and all of us know that early detection saves lives," said Howard Ainsley, chief executive officer of Wythe County Community, where the unit will be based, and president of the new regional organization.
"As a nonprofit partnership, our goal is just to break even financially," Ainsley said. He said the payoff will be in saving lives.
The vehicle will hit the road May 8. Representatives of businesses or industries interested in scheduling a visit can make arrangements by calling Rita Ward at Wythe County Community at (703)228-0200.
The unit also will serve Health Department patients and the indigent, said Dr. Craig Smith, director of the two health districts involved.
Smith said breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among Virginia women younger than 65, and that one woman in eight will be diagnosed with breast cancer.
He said the project has taken more than a year. "We could have just stopped several times along the way, but the hospitals persevered."
The unit previously was owned by the Medical College of Virginia, but Ainsley said it did not get as much use in the Richmond area as it will in Southwest Virginia because Richmond already has mammography examination sites. The consortium invested $200,000 in refurbishing the unit for use in Southwest Virginia.
Ainsley said he hoped this would be the first of several collaborative efforts among the region's hospitals to provide better medical care.
The unit also is expected to reduce medical costs. The average cost incurred by a breast cancer patient diagnosed at a late stage is $144,000, compared with $12,000 when diagnosed early.
Even accounting for the projected 4,000 mammograms to be performed annually in the van, the nine counties and two cities of the region will remain underserved. Studies indicate that 30,000 more mammograms should be done each year than are now performed in the region.
The American Cancer Society recommends that women have their first mammogram by age 40 and have one every one or two years to age 50. After that, examinations should be done each year.
by CNB