Women's Health Center Coach
October 21, 2005 was a typical fall day for the children at Meadow Ridge Elementary School in Mead, Washington. The air was chilly and the view of nearby Mount Spokane must have had students and teachers alike dreaming about picking apples and pumpkins at Green Bluff orchards.
For Elizabeth Fish, though, this day would be life changing. The administrative assistant who had worked for the Mead School district for 17 years would step aboard the Women’s Health Center Coach for a mammogram … and later find out she had breast cancer (read the full story).
If you’re age 40 or older, mammography and osteoporosis screenings should be part of your yearly routine. The Women’s Health Center Coach makes these screenings convenient by bringing them right to your neighborhood or work place.
The Coach travels to businesses, community centers, retirement communities and rural physician offices, offering:
- mammography screenings
- osteoporosis screenings
- personalized, one-on-one education
No woman is refused mammography services on the Coach for lack of ability to pay. For women without insurance, we provide connections to community programs with follow-up health care services.
Mammography screening
On the Coach, mammograms are performed in a private room where a technologist will ensure that you are able to have the best possible pictures. You’ll also receive instructions on how to perform breast self-exam and learn about the importance of annual clinical exams as well.Mammograms are “read” by a radiologist at Inland Imaging, LLC who will contact your physician with your results. If you don’t have a regular physician or if you need further tests, the Women’s Health Center Coach staff can assist you or make a referral.
Osteoporosis screening
Checking your risk for osteoporosis is easy! Simply slip off your shoe and place your foot in a machine that takes an ultrasound image of your heel. It measures the density of your bone, which is an indicator of your bone health. If your test shows that you are at risk for developing osteoporosis, the Coach staff will tell you how you can receive further testing. They will also teach you about lifestyle issues that effect bone health. The fee is $15; men may also have this exam on the Coach.History
Since it first took to the road in September 1999, the Women’s Health Center Coach has provided mammography services to over 15,300 women and thousands of osteoporosis screenings. It has visited medical clinics lacking mammography screening services, traveled to retirement communities, making the screenings convenient and easy for elderly women, and been to several businesses so that working women would not have to take time off to have this important annual exam. It also visited community centers, school districts, malls, and even convenience stores.In the first year, staff found more than 70 women who needed to have further testing to rule out the possibility of cancer. Of those, 22 women required follow-up treatments such as biopsies. Six women were diagnosed with cancer, and thanks to the early detection with help of the Women’s Health Center Coach, they received the attention they needed.
A Case in point
Jane was one of those women who would not have had a mammogram if it weren’t for the Women’s Health Center Coach. For several months, she had a nagging feeling that she had breast cancer … the problem, however, was that she had no resources or insurance to pay for the initial exams and any follow-up treatments. When she heard about the Women’s Health Center Coach and its pending visit to a community center, Jane made an appointment for her mammography screening.
The mammogram showed that, indeed, she had a large tumor. The Women’s Health Center staff linked Jane to a physician who performed her lumpectomy, and then to community resources which helped her with follow-up care.
What women say about the Coach…
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“I’m a working mom with two teenage kids—very busy. The Coach enables me to have the exam without the stress of missing work.”
“It could only have been more convenient if they came to my house and did it while I slept! Finally, I was able to get my long overdue mammogram!”
“It’s great having the Coach come to the people. I probably would not get this exam if I had to miss work.”