We want to introduce you to the final three grantees who we have funded this year through our grants process. They use the money our Affiliate gives to them to provide low-cost or no-cost breast health services for our community members who have little or no insurance.
For more information about our community grants program, click here.
Moncrief Cancer Institute
Moncrief Cancer Institute is an affiliate of the UT Southwestern Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated cancer center in North Texas. Since 1958, Moncrief has been serving the medically underserved North Texas community, providing care to the low-income, uninsured and underinsured that includes cancer early detection and treatment programs, continued care for cancer survivors and their families, as well as education and outreach.
In 2008, in the effort to reduce breast cancer burdens to the medically underserved, Moncrief created the BSPAN (Breast Screening and Patient Navigation) program. This program provides community outreach and education, screening mammograms and culturally-sensitive patient navigation. With this approach, they are able to reduce the time a woman may wait to see if she does have breast cancer and obtaining the necessary treatment for it. BSPAN has provided mammograms to nearly 30,000 eligible women and has increased the number of women who were diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. The BSPAN program serves 35 counties in North Texas, many of which are included in Komen North & West Texas’ service area.
With its 2019 Komen Community Grants funding, Moncrief provides breast health services such as free mammograms at collaborating imaging centers throughout the Affiliate service area, as well as screening on the mobile unit that travels into both rural and urban communities reaching women who might not otherwise have access to mammograms. Additionally, the grant provides free diagnostic procedures such as diagnostic mammograms, biopsies, ultrasounds and MRIs, as well as surgical treatment for breast cancer patients. All patients have access to excellent patient navigators to help guide them through the process of additional breast services if needed.
During this grant cycle, the project will serve 140 patients. Each year the need for these lifesaving services increases, validating the importance of this program and the continued impact it makes in the community.
For more information on Moncrief, the BSPAN program or the breast services they provide, please visit their website at moncrief.com or call 800-405-7739.
Texas Health Resources Foundation
Through their Texas Health Early Detection and Individualized Treatment (EDIT) program, Texas Health Resources Foundation provides a host of breast health services to assist under/uninsured, low-income women in Denton, Collin and Wise Counties.
The EDIT Program provides breast health services to women, ages 40 and above, who are under or uninsured. Women can receive free mammograms, one-on-one consultations with Texas Health nurses, breast care education and navigation to additional services through the Breast Center at Texas Health Plano and the Texas Health Wellness for Life Mobile Unit. If patients need further diagnostic procedures, the EDIT program will provide imaging and biopsies, with additional navigation through to the treatment process if needed.
In Denton and Collin Counties, the program schedules specific screening dates to reach the African American community, as they experience lower screening rates and high rates of late stage breast cancer diagnosis and breast cancer mortality. The Texas Health Faith Community Nurse program collaborates with African American churches to host the mobile unit and provide free mammograms there. In this manner, the EDIT program reaches patients at locations where they are familiar and with organizations they trust.
In Wise County, the Texas Health Wellness for Life Mobile Health unit provides screening mammograms to women in rural locations such as Decatur and Bridgeport. The Mobile Unit is large enough to accommodate the Family Nurse Practitioner to provide well-women exams on one side of the unit, and the mammography technicians perform mammograms on the other side. Along with providing breast health educational materials, this “one stop” Mobile Unit can address multiple health issues for rural patients who may not otherwise have access to important preventative services.
For more information on the Texas Health Resources Foundation’s EDIT Program, please call 972-981-4070 or visit their website at texashealth.org/Plano-Breast.
YWCA of Lubbock
The YWCA of Lubbock’s program “Women’s Health Initiative (WHI)” provides breast health services to the women of men in West Texas, specifically the rural communities in Lubbock and the 17 surrounding counties of the South Plains. WHI serves primarily low-income, ethnic communities that have little or no health insurance.
The program offers screening and diagnostic breast services to medically under-served patients between the ages of 18-64. Diagnostics are especially critical as many patients face high health insurance deductibles for diagnostic procedures, and cannot afford the added expense when an abnormal screening requires further testing.
WHI partners with other health providers in West Texas, such as University Medical Center Breast Imaging and Southwest Cancer Center, Joe Arrington Comprehensive Breast Center and Mobile Mammography, and Texas Tech Health Sciences Center. WHI also takes a leadership role in the South Plains Breast Coalition. This coalition allows breast health providers an opportunity to discuss best uses of grant funding, refer patients to partner organizations to help facilitate care through the breast health continuum, and overall program collaboration to ensure patients can find services in their local community.
For more information on the YWCA of Lubbock, please call 806-687-8858 or visit their website ywcalubbock.org/womens-health-initiative.