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Because of a $20,800 grant from the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Fund, the Anderson Free Clinic’s staff will be able to nearly double the number of women receiving free mammograms this year. 

With the help of the clinic’s volunteer staff, 121 women received free mammograms in 2008, said the clinic’s interim director, Melissa Powell.

But with an extra $20,800 in the budget, Powell said, the clinic will be able to bring on two part-time employees, a registered nurse and an assistant, to help specifically with the women’s health-care program.

“The real challenge is for us to get the paperwork done,” Powell said. “In the past, we’ve just pieced enough people together to be able to give free mammograms.”

The money will give the clinic two employees whose main purpose is admitting female patients and giving them the recommended mammograms. Jean Smith, the registered nurse, and Melissa Somers, the assistant, are already working, Powell said.

Before, the clinic always had a backlog of patients who needed mammograms. Now, it will be able to perform at least 200 mammograms this year, Powell added.

According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 200,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in American women in 2009. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the United States.

Powell said the $20,800 grant is awarded for one year. The Anderson Free Clinic is a nonprofit agency whose purpose is to provide free health care to those who cannot afford private medical insurance.

Source : Anderson Free Clinic

You can get more details about Mammography & its related topics from our Mammography User Group.