BOCA RATON, Fla. — On this week’s Mom to Mom, Local 10’s Nicole Perez talked to organizers at Baptist Health who have created a way for women to get a mammogram, without stepping foot into a doctor’s office.
Shakira Kolber, the Director of the Women’s Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, says the MammoVan does more than screen for breast cancer. It provides women with education and important updates.
“There are no limitations to where we can go. For me, this van spells convenience,” said Kolber.
The MammoVan goes to physician’s offices, health fairs, bus depots and it has even been parked in parking lots with technicians and doctors offering free screenings to women.
If money or insurance is an issue, South Florida women are able to receive a mammogram at no cost to them.
“There’s no charge to bring the van to your work, your site, your health event, whatever it is, your church, synagogue, no cost whatsoever. You come in driver is here, check in, go to the back for your screening. What makes this unit special is it was built for comfort,” said Kolber.
The van is equipped with the latest technology, the GE Prostina 3D Mammography Unit.
Kolber says the unit takes images at several angles and takes less than four minutes. From registration to finish, the whole process may take a patient about 20 minutes.
Dr. Kathy Schilling, Medical Director of the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute at Boca Raton Hospital took the time to talk to Nicole about the importance of getting a mammogram and what it looks like when she detects it.
“Today, I’m one of three radiologists staffing the center here and I’m doing biopsies. It’s really all about early detection. The smaller we find the cancer, the better we have of curing that woman and the more treatment options that we have which are less aggressive,” said Schilling.
Schilling says they MammoVan is able to get into communities, increasing access to breast screenings and trying to reduce some of the barriers women face when simply trying to schedule an appointment.
“We know that there’s populations out there that won’t come here won’t access the care and maybe because of fear or intimidation. Maybe because they don’t have transportation or childcare issues but if we can identify those at-risk communities that are not coming here, we can go to them,” said Schilling.
The MammoVan screens about 300 women a month. With the help of AI, Schilling says they have been able to increase the number of patients they see and are finding significantly smaller cancers.
“The AI can help assist us it knows what cancers look like so it can flag them and refocus your attention to say you know maybe you want to look at this area again. We have found even with all dedicated breast radiologists that our cancer detection rate increased by 23% using artificial intelligence and that’s without adding any additional recalls,” said Schilling.
Schilling recommends patients at average risk start screening every year beginning at age 40.
“In the last couple of years, we’ve been seeing a lot of patients younger than age 40 coming in with breast cancers which they found themselves or the doctor found. So, we recommend that every woman come in before the age of 25 for a risk assessment,” said Schilling.
The only van of its kind in South Florida, the goal of the MammoVan is to reach as many communities as possible, screen as many women as possible and provide fast results to detect cancer early.
The MammoVans currently service women living in Palm Beach and Broward Counties. A brand-new MammoVan will also soon provide services to women in Miami-Dade County.
For more information about the MammoVan program, click on this link.
To make an appointment, click on this link.
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