Mammography bus makes breast cancer screenings more accessible
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | OCT. 15 - OCT. 21, 2021 39
woman needs a biopsy
or any further medical
treatment, Mount Sinai
helps coordinate that.
“We’ve gotten very
positive feedback from
our patients,” Margolies
said. “They’re extremely
grateful. They
were so afraid to have
a mammogram but the
bus made it so easy.”
One in eight women
will be diagnosed with
breast cancer at some
point in their lives. Margolies
feelsthis program
is essential since it
lowers the barriers
and increases
access that otherwise
might
prevent someone
from getting a
screening mammography.
“It lowers
anxiety
when
we’re at
a facility
where people
feel comfortable,”
Margolies said.
“If they’re already
comfortable
at a
faith-based
group or
community
center and
we’re there and
their friends are
getting mammograms
— I
think that’s
very helpful.”
The mobile unit
reaches every corner of
the five boroughs, helping
women who may not
have been able to go to a
Mount Sinai facility.
“We have great
breast imaging services
at Mount Sinai Queens
and this allows us to
expand into other areas
that are inaccessible
if people have trouble
getting to us by bus or
train,” Margolies said.
BY JULIA MORO
The Mount Sinai
Mobile Mammography
Unit has partnered
with St. Mary’s Hospital
for Children in Bayside
to provide screenings
for their employees
during breast cancer
awareness month.
Mount Sinai has been
using this 42-foot bus to
provide mammography
screenings all over New
York City since 2018, although
the unit wasn’t
functioning at the height
of the pandemic. The bus
goes to every borough
year-round, and has
screened about 4,000 patients
in total. More than
25 of those 4,000 women
were found to have cancerous
or precancerous
conditions.
The mobile unit is
meant to provide fast
and convenient screenings
to make care more
accessible.
Marianne Muzic, a social
worker at St. Mary’s,
said she is looking forward
to taking advantage
of this initiative.
“Being a mother of
two and working two
jobs, it’s very difficult,”
Muzic said. “I want to
stay healthy and it’s
right outside our door
of our campus. I’m very
grateful to St. Mary’s for
partnering with Mount
Sinai.”
This is St. Mary’s
first time partnering
with Mount Sinai’s mobile
mammography
unit. About a year ago,
Patricia Hackenjos, the
vice president of human
resources, said that St.
Mary’s conducted a utilization
review of their
healthcare services provided
to its employees
and found the participation
in cancer screenings
was very low, especially
for breast cancer.
“The only reason we
could think of for why it
was so low was inconvenience,”
Hackenjos said.
“They probably don’t
have the time to go to a
service provider.”
After that, St. Mary’s
decided to bring in the
mobile mammography
unit to their Bayside
facility.
“Early detection
is key and we want to
make sure our employees
are healthy,” Hackenjos
said. “Our kids
that we serve here depend
on every member
of the team.”
The bus offers intake
forms in 12 languages,
said Dr. Laurie
Margolies, the chief
of Breast Imaging at
Mount Sinai Health
System. The New York
Cancer Services Program
will also cover
the cost for eligible
woman who are uninsured
or underinsured.
Undocumented immigrants
are also able to
get screenings paid for
by this program.
Patients enter the
bus, get changed into
a gown and go into the
screening room. After
the screening, the bus
goes back to Mount Sinai
and images are uploaded.
Within a few
days, the screenings
are read and reports are
sent out.
Margolies recommended
scheduling a
follow-up for those who
have a finding on the
mammogram, which
is about 10 percent. If a
Inside the Mobile Mammography Unit.
Photo courtesy of Mount Sinai
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