March Grantees of the Month
Boat People SOS, Inc.
6107 Oakbrook Parkway
Norcross, GA 30093
www.bpsos.org/mainsite/
The Health Awareness and Promotion Program has been successfully implemented during the 2013-2013 grant year. We have indirectly educated more than 2000 Vietnamese men and women about breast cancer through written articles, radio talk shows, and breast cancer awareness cards. BPSOS-Atlanta also held an annual health fair with breast cancer workshop on September 15, 2012 and got more than 1000 participants attended. Beside the major events, we also directly educated more than 300 men and women about breast cancer through our mobilize workshops, one-on-one education sessions. We have navigated and referred more than 194 women through mammogram and 60% of them got the mammogram for the first. On Nov 17th of 2012, BPSOS-Atlanta was able to organize the first "Walk-a-thon" to raise awareness about breast cancer in the community. We attracted more than 200 individuals to participate. During the walk, there was a boy who is 7 years old shared with organizers that he will talk to his teacher about taking mammogram. There was also a Vietnamese female doctor on hand to perform clinical breast exams.
Komen Atlanta funding has allowed BPSOS-Atlanta to handle paperwork, refer and translate for more than 194 uninsured and low income individuals to receive a free mammogram and 60% (116) of who got a mammogram for the first time. BPSOS-Atlanta has provided physical, social and mental support for 3 cancer patients from education session to all the treatments to overcome breast cancer. For example, during a breast cancer workshop funded by Komen Atlanta, we educated and referred an individual to have her mammogram done. We referred her to our partner who is grantee of Komen Atlanta as well which is Wellness on Wheel (WOW). After she went to have her mammogram done, we got the result to know that there is a suspicious area where she needs to come back for ultrasound. Our staff contacted the client to explain the need to come back. Client refused to come back and expressed that she would not have cancer. It is just the error. Our staff explained to WOW the situation and the nurse urged us to contact the client back because they worried by the mammogram result. Our staff continued calling her to explain and to empower her. After more than 15 times talking to her, she agreed to go for an ultrasound. The result of the ultrasound came out to be cancer. We are glad that our staffs were dedicated to the job of cancer prevention to be so patient to this client. We were able to assist the client to apply for women Medicaid to treat her breast cancer. Our intervention and management saved one life, and hundreds more, that would otherwise sink into the deathly silence of breast cancer.
The impact for the Komen Atlanta grant spreads far and beyond project geography. We got calls from Augusta Health Department to assist with a Vietnamese client who is interested in breast cancer prevention, who learns about it through our Komen-sponsored health fair and walk-a-thon. We also experienced a spike in women taking action to get screened, and referred the program to other friends and families.
Clayton County Board of Health
1117 Battle Creek Road
Jonesboro, GA 30236
www.claytoncountypublichealth.org/
Through the Georgia Department of Public Health, Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (BCCP), the Clayton County Board of Health (CCBOH) is able to provide clinical breast exams and make biopsy and surgical referrals for women ages 40-64 who have no insurance or whose insurance does not cover breast examination. However, lumps and other breast abnormalities appear in many women under 40, and those women have traditionally had to seek options outside of CCBOH. The Greater Atlanta Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure recently provided CCBOH with the funding necessary to provide services for women who fall into this gap.
Between April 2012 and March 2013, CCBOH received $127,211 from Komen to supplement its clinical breast exam efforts. Through Komen, any woman with breast irregularities can receive a clinical breast exam at CCBOH, regardless of age. Since April 2012, CCBOH has been able to provide approximately 200 women with clinical breast exams and mammograms through Komen funding. These funds have greatly increased CCBOH's capacity to provide uninsured and underinsured persons in our community with timely diagnosis for breast problems.
Komen funds provide uninsured and underinsured women in our community a resource to receive timely diagnosis for breast problems as well as receive recommended mammogram screening. We also receive phone calls from men in the community inquiring about breast health services for their female partners. These funds have been instrumental in assisting us with providing services to patients who would otherwise have no resource.
DeKalb Medical Foundation
2675 North Decatur Road; Suite 610
Decatur, GA 30033
www.dekalbmedical.org
DeKalb County is one of the most culturally diverse counties in the southeastern United States. DeKalb Medical's Wellness on Wheels targets neighborhoods within DeKalb County that have a high concentration of low-income immigrant, refugee and African American residents. With the use of a mobile health coach, Wellness on Wheels goes into these communities providing breast health and cancer screening services with a special focus on potential cultural, language or financial barriers which might prevent clients from getting the services that they need. Since 2000 WOW has provided breast cancer screening services to these communities. Ninety five per cent of the uninsured clients served by Wellness on Wheels are from minority populations. Wellness on Wheels has addressed the language and cultural disparities by providing a multilingual staff, education and language specific literature and by developing partnerships with community organizations such as Refugee Family Services, Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Boat People SOS, Dia de la Mujer Latina, and others to provide services to refugees and immigrants from across the globe.
WOW has received Komen Atlanta funding for more than 12 years which has resulted in screening and diagnosing many women who otherwise might not have been screened. With the generous support of Komen for the Cure Greater Atlanta, in 2012 WOW provided over 1200 screening mammograms, 400 diagnostic mammograms, 250 breast ultrasounds, 240 surgical consultations and 132 breast biopsies. Twenty-four women were diagnosed with breast cancer that otherwise would not have been screened or would have been diagnosed in the later stages of the disease. Komen for the Cure has assisted WOW in meeting its goal of early detection and treatment of breast cancer of men and women with health disparities.
East Metro Health District
2570 Riverside Parkway P.O. Box 897
Lawrenceville, GA 30046
www.eastmetrohealth.com
Last October, our Women's Health staff appeared on the Rockdale County TV series, "Positively Rockdale." They were interviewed by Rockdale Commission Chairman and CEO Richard Oden. The Health Department is appreciative of the Commissioner's support of women's health and breast cancer screening. Through this presentation, our staff was able to share information with the community about the services the Health Department provides for women. The video can be viewed here: http://vimeo.com/channels/305461/51155913
The Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments provide women's health services to a large population of medically underserved women in our three-county area. The target population served with our Komen Atlanta grant is women in Gwinnett and Rockdale counties who are uninsured/underinsured, with an income below 200% of poverty level.
Bilingual staff provides breast cancer education, clinical breast exams, referral for mammograms and diagnostic screenings. Our staff performs follow-up services and case management with referral for treatment, should breast cancer be diagnosed. We also initiate Georgia Women's Health Medicaid applications for eligible women, which pays for breast or cervical cancer treatment.
Our collaboration with Komen Atlanta has allowed us to expand the number of women we are able to serve by three fold. Being a grant recipient has allowed us to not only expand the number of women we serve, but also the age group of the women we can see for screenings. In real numbers, this means that the Health Departments have been able to see 400 more women in our target population than we would have been able to see without the grant funding.
Grady Health Foundation
191 Peachtree St. Suite 820
Atlanta, GA 30303
www.gradyhealthfoundation.org
The Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence (GCCE) at Grady Health System (GHS) serves a primarily African American, medically uninsured population. Many of our patients experience multiple barriers to care placing them at high risk for late stage diagnosis of cancer. Awarded funding has allowed GCCE the opportunity to care for these patients who would not otherwise have access to diagnostic services. GCCE has been able to alleviate the financial barriers for patients who had previously delayed treatment and as a result, GCCE has been able to increase early stage diagnosis.
The GCCE at GHS endeavors to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer in Georgia through prevention and screening, treatment, research and education. Our program is unique, offering an integrated service in the GCCE. Every patient has access to medical staff, social workers, chaplains, mental health services, financial counselors and pharmacy. Allowing patients access a "one-stop shop" has been extremely beneficial during their treatment.
Awarded funding has allowed the Georgia Cancer Center of Excellence to perform over 744 diagnostic mammograms and 169 biopsies. Many of the patients face financial hardships and as a result, they tend not to seek medical attention. Our partnership with Komen Atlanta has given us the opportunity to expand our care to those patients less likely to seek early identification and treatment methods. As a result of funding, we have also seen a decrease in Stage IV breast cancer diagnosis and an increase in diagnosis at Stage II.
The Avon Comprehensive Breast Health Center provides breast imaging (diagnostic mammograms and ultrasounds), biopsies, breast surgery, breast medical oncology, radiation oncology and clinical trials to patients. In 2011, the GCCE diagnosed and/or treated a total of 1169 cancer patients. Many of our patients come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. They do not have access to adequate healthcare. Funding has had a positive impact on both the facility and community. Awarded funding has enabled the Avon Comprehensive Breast Health Center to provide biopsies to uninsured women seeking treatment at our facility. Without such a gracious gift from Komen Atlanta, many of these women would be unable to receive care. Our goal is to continue to aid in facilitating early identification and treatment, improving the lives of the patients in the Metro-Atlanta community.
Northside Hospital
1000 Johnson Ferry Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30342
www.northside.com
For the 2012-2013 grant year Northside Hospital (NSH)was fortunate to be awarded two separate grants from Komen Atlanta: 1) for $101,635 to provide 500 screening mammograms; 2) for $87, 991 to provide diagnostic services ( 200 diagnostic mammograms, 118 breast ultrasounds, 12 cyst aspirations, 28 breast biopsies, 1 MRI. So far, we have diagnosed 5 women with breast cancer for this Komen Atlanta grant year.
NSH has numerous imaging centers throughout North Metro Atlanta and our ScreenAtlanta Mobile Mammography van visits more than 20 different locations - this is increases access to care. In 2010, NSH was the only hospital in Atlanta chosen to be a National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Center. The goals of this program include increasing access to care in medically underserved populations, enhancing quality of care, and supporting cancer research. Since joining this elite group of 30 hospitals from across the U.S., NSH has strengthened its commitment to incorporate evidenced-based treatment strategies across the continuum of care by establishing Multidisciplinary Care Teams for specific cancer sites. This ensures best practices are used to improve quality of care through a number of strategies including the development of a Patient Navigation Program and the creation of culturally relevant educational materials.
NSH's Breast Cancer Program, a component of the Cancer Institute, is the largest in the Southeast. The program has 3 dedicated Breast Nurse Navigators, a Disparities Nurse Navigator, and an Oncology Financial Resource Specialist who work collaboratively to find resources (i.e. medical, financial and support services) for patients in need. Furthermore, as a result of joining NCCCP, NSH now has 2 Community Health Advocates (CHAs) who specifically outreach underserved African American and Hispanic communities who have limited access to cancer care.
The Program offers a comprehensive range of breast imaging and diagnostic services at 13 imaging centers throughout Atlanta, and the ScreenAtlanta Mobile Mammography van visits more than 20 different locations. NSH diagnoses and treats more cases of breast cancer than any other community hospital in Georgia. The hospital has been fortunate to receive Komen funding to provide screening mammography and diagnostic services to underserved women living in the community since 2003. NSH began small helping less than 100 women and today assists more than 500 women during one grant cycle. In total, NSH and Komen Atlanta have provided free breast screening and diagnostic services to more than 2000 women over the last 10 years.
Southern Regional Medical Center: The Women's Center at Spivey Station
7823 Spivey Station Blvd, Suite 250
Jonesboro, GA 30236
www.southernregional.org/About/spivey-station/
This is our fourth year being a Komen Atlanta grantee. Our center was noted for detecting the most breast cancers via last year's grant cycle. We have detected 7 breast cancers in this grant cycle as of February 15, 2013.
We offer a wide range of breast services via our Komen Atlanta grant. We offer screening/diagnostic mammograms, ultrasounds/ultrasound guided biopsies, stereotactic breast biopsies, Breast MRI and Lymphedema supplies. Our main counties we cover are Henry, Clayton, Rockdale but we accept patients for all Komen covered counties.
We are able to offer the wide range of services to people within our community that would not otherwise be able to receive these services due to the Komen Atlanta Grant. We have a large indigent care population in our southern crescent region. This grant allows us to offer these free services to those that cannot afford and would not have gotten these services without the grant.
We have repeat patients that wait every year to see if our facility receives the grant. We have been very fortunate to have received the Komen Atlanta grant for the last 4 years. These patients call us each April and ask if we have the grant. If we do and they still qualify, they are able to come in and receive these services. We are constantly told that without the Komen Atlanta grant, they would not have been able to come. For the patients where we detected breast cancers, they contribute the Komen Atlanta grant to saving their lives.
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