Saint Thomas Hospital received a $15,000 grant earlier this month to continue operating a breast cancer prevention and detection program that's offered more than 1,600 free mammograms since 2002.
The Latino Breast Health Outreach primarily targets Hispanic women at the hospital's clinics on Charlotte and Edmondson pikes. Since 2006, six patients have been diagnosed with the disease.
Monica Arias' diagnosis came in 2004, she said in Spanish through an interpreter. Within eight months, Arias underwent tests, a surgery and chemotherapy at a very low cost, she said.
"I don't think I'd be alive," said Arias, who's been cancer free since.
"If the program hadn't been available, I would have had to return to Mexico with the fear that health care there isn't nearly as advanced as it is here. Everybody was very nice, and I didn't feel any degradation for not having health insurance."
The women who qualify for the Saint Thomas program are typically at least 40 years old; most don't have medical insurance. They travel to the hospital for free screenings such as mammograms and ultrasound tests and also receive breast cancer prevention materials.
Follow the link for the full story.
