72 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MAY 9, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital and Community Members Celebrate
Mammography/Women’s Health Awareness at Cinco de Mammo Event
Left to Right: Jerry Walsh, CEO (left) with Mariachi band and hospital leadership and staff.
(Far Rockaway, NY – May
3, 2019) A grand celebration
in honor of women’s health
awareness was held today at
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital.
At the bash, known as Cinco
de Mammo, community members
learned the importance
of receiving mammograms
and health screenings, easily
scheduled appointments,
and became acquainted with
the abundance of services
St. John’s offers at its various
practices throughout the
Rockaways. Event attendees
included community members,
patients, and hospital
staff who were treated to live
music from a Mariachi band,
refreshments, and more.
“The purpose of the Cinco
de Mammo event is to encourage
the public to get health
screenings, especially mammograms,”
said Rosemary
Bonilla, Vice President of
Physician Practice & Ambulatory
Care. “Breast cancer is
prevalent in the Rockaways,
and residents need to be educated
about getting screened
so that cancer is caught and
fought in its early stages.”
In a community study, the
Rockaways and Central
Queens were identified as
having the highest breast
cancer rates in Queens County,
and early breast cancer diagnosis
rates are lower than the
US average.
“Breast cancer is the most
common cancer among women
worldwide, and claims
hundreds of thousands of lives
each year,” said Donald Morrish,
MD, Chief Medical Officer.
“It is extremely important
to get regular screenings because
early detection increases
your chance of finding breast
cancer before it spreads.”
Beyond mammograms, SJEH,
and several of its community
practices, offer a variety
of women’s health services
including well-woman visits
and screenings; routine and
high-risk obstetrics; reproductive
endocrinology and
infertility services; management
of abnormal Pap smears;
minimally invasive surgery;
gynecological oncology; and
urogynecology.
Event attendees also learned
about the hospital’s future expansion
plans which include
building a Women’s Comprehensive
Health Center and a
3,850-square-foot
Radiation Oncology Center.
The Women’s Comprehensive
Health Center will feature
routine and sub-specialty
gynecological and obstetrical
services; maternal fetal medicine;
urogynecologic services;
cancer screening; breast
surgery; behavioral health;
nutrition service; bone density
scanning; and ultrasound,
mammography, and on-site lab
services.
The Radiation Oncology
Center will contain the latest,
state-of-the-art equipment
available including the Rockaway’s
only linear accelerator–
a machine that customizes
high energy x-rays or electrons
to conform to a tumor's shape
and destroy cancer cells while
sparing surrounding normal
tissue.
“I want to thank St. John’s
Episcopal Hospital for bringing
such vital resources to our
community,” said Assemblywoman
Stacey Pheffer Amato
(D-Far Rockaway). “Breast
Cancer has touched so many
of our lives and it is important
to encourage the public to get
screened regularly.”
To schedule an appointment
call (718) 869-7690.
About St. John’s Episcopal
Hospital
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
is the only hospital providing
emergency and ambulatory
care to the densely populated,
culturally and economically
diverse, and medically underserved
populations of the
Rockaways and Five Towns in
southern Queens County and
southwestern Nassau County,
New York. Celebrating over 110
years of community care, the
257-bed facility provides people
of all faiths with comprehensive
preventive, diagnostic,
treatment and rehabilitative
services, regardless of ability
to pay.
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