SAMC Facilitates Free Mammograms with Support from the Susan G. Komen Foundation

St. Anthony Medical Clinic held a Breast Health Day at the Avon Breast Care Center at San Francisco General Hospital last week for our patients who have not been screened for breast cancer in the past year. Teaming with Castro Mission Clinic, we were able to provide free mammograms for 47 low-income, uninsured, or homeless women, along with breast exams and other tests.  Group health events like these move St. Anthony’s closer to our goal of increasing access to breast health education and mammograms for low-income, and uninsured, or homeless women in the Tenderloin who have. Forty-seven women were screened in total.

Constructed around a serene Healing Garden designed and donated by Topher Delaney, the Avon Breast Care Center includes digital mammography, ultrasound-guided biopsy and stereotactic biopsy. Housing all of these diagnostic capabilities together significantly reduces wait times and encourages follow-through by our patients. The option of a non-surgical biopsy allows all patients to receive thorough exams regardless of their ability to undergo surgery.

The day was made possible by a generous grant from the Susan G. Komen Foundation which helped St. Anthony’s kick off a new Breast Health Program, an expansion of the education and outreach services we provide. The Komen Foundation is helping us provide access to breast health screening and treatment for uninsured women in San Francisco and reduce the cultural and linguistic barriers which make exams daunting for women. With Komen’s help, we launched quarterly Women’s Health Days in June to provide education and outreach to our regular patients and to other women from the community to learn about breast health, receive clinical screenings and get their annual mammogram.