One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer once in their lifetime. When caught early, it can be life-saving. That is why Neighborhood Health Center is proud to be partnering with the American Cancer Society, the Buffalo Bills, and ECMC to bring the ECMC Mobile Mammography Bus to Neighborhood sites. 

The Playbook

Neighborhood and ECMC are one of six partnerships nationwide in the “Links to Care Community Grants” pilot program. This grant comes after the “Crucial Catch” initiative created by the NFL and the American Cancer Society to improve breast cancer outcomes. Since 2009, the NFL has raised more than $27 million for the American Cancer Society, which has supported more than 400,000 breast cancer screenings nationwide. This new program seeks to create connections between community health centers and NFL team-affiliated hospitals, to ensure patients ages 40+ complete recommended annual screenings, follow-ups, and necessary care and treatment. 

“The idea is to increase access to breast cancer screening for women in Western New York,” said Frank Smith, Senior Director of Quality at Neighborhood Health Center, “Phase one of the grant is increasing screening rates. Phase two focuses on care coordination for patients whose screenings come back positive.” 

Many adverse outcomes with breast cancer are due to missed annual screenings, or getting lost in the follow-up process. That is why a ‘Provider Champion’ is an important aspect of this grant program. Luanne Patterson, FNP-BC, is a nurse practitioner with Neighborhood Health Center’s IM/FM department. She has taken on the role of being the provider champion for Neighborhood on this grant. Her role is to identify which patients are due for their screenings, to help with care coordination for any screenings that come back positive, and to give provider input on how to make the project run as seamlessly as possible. 

“We’ve had a lot of patients who we’ve been able to catch their cancer early with screening, get them treated, and get them cleared from breast cancer because of these regular screenings and follow-ups,” said Luanne. “I’ve had patients say that they prefer to use the mobile unit because it is so close, and that impacts people in getting their screenings.”

Breaking Barriers

A significant factor in patients getting the care they need are the socioeconomic barriers that they can face. Things like transportation barriers, financial struggles, medical anxiety are all factors that limit patient access to care. By having the mobile mammography unit onsite for patients, Neighborhood, along with these partner organizations, hopes to increase patient access to necessary, life-changing care. 

“It’s important for our patients. We know our patients have a lot of barriers they may face in accessing adequate healthcare, so this partnership is definitely going to help fill those gaps and help people get screened,” said Luanne.

Since August 2023, Neighborhood and ECMC have screened approximately 50 patients. This is a two-year grant that kicked off at the beginning of 2023, which means that Neighborhood and ECMC will continue to work together to increase access to breast cancer screenings in WNY at least through 2024. 

Please visit our events page to stay up-to-date on when the mobile mammography unit is coming to a Neighborhood location next.