36 THE QUEENS COURIER • BREAST CANCER • OCTOBER 14, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Mobile bus makes breast cancer screenings more accessible
BY JULIA MORO
EDITORIALQNS.COM
QNS
Th e 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. Th e 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.
Th e 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 o u r
door of our campus. I’m very grateful
to St. Mary’s for partnering with Mount
Sinai.”
Th is is St. Mary’s fi rst 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.
e 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.”
A f t e r 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.”
Th e bus off ers intake forms in 12 languages,
said Dr. Laurie Margolies, the chief
of Breast Imaging at Mount Sinai Health
System. Th e 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. Aft er
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 fi nding on
the mammogram, which is about 10 percent.
If a 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. “Th ey’re extremely
grateful. Th ey 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 feels this 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.”
Th e mobile unit reaches every corner of
the fi ve 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.
Pomonok Houses residents receive free mammograms
BY JENNA BAGCAL
JBAGCALSCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
JENNA_BAGCAL
Queens NYCHA residents recently got
free mammograms thanks to eff orts by
a local lawmaker ahead of Breast Cancer
Awareness Month.
On Th ursday, Sept. 30, Assemblyman
Daniel Rosenthal teamed up with the
Italian-American Cancer Foundation
and Queens Community House to bring
preventative breast cancer screenings to
the Pomonok Houses Community Center.
Eligible patients signed up for appointments
through Rosenthal’s offi ce or walked
into the mobile bus to receive their annual
screening.
“Early detection saves lives,” Rosenthal
said. “As we assessed the eff ects of
the pandemic on preventative care, we
wanted to ensure that women did not
forgo their critical annual exams. I thank
the American-Italian Cancer Foundation
for providing this crucial service in a safe
manner and Queens Community House for
their partnership.”
Th is was the third year that the lawmaker
hosted the cost-free mammogram service
following the New York Breast Law
that was enacted in 2017. Under
the legislation, deductibles and
copayments for all annual screening
mammograms
were
eliminated for
women over 40
years old.
Accord ing
to the Centers
for Disease
Control (CDC)
a
mammogram
is an X-ray of
the breast and
is the best way for
early
breast cancer
detection for
many women.
Regular mammograms,
usually
one
per year, can
lower a person’s
risk of dying from
breast cancer.
Rosenthal said that his offi ce
plans to make free mammograms
available annually for his
constituents.
Photo courtesy of Mount Sinai
Courtesy of Rosenthal’s offi ce
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breast cancer awareness
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