Saint Joseph Berea Foundation Receives $10,000 Gift to Provide Mammography Screenings for Women in Need - Archived

Berea, Ky. (February 3, 2014) — The Saint Joseph Berea Foundation, part of KentuckyOne Health, has received a $10,000 gift from the Berea College Appalachian Fund to support Saint Joseph Berea’s Yes, Mamm! program which provides free mammograms and diagnostic screenings to those that cannot afford them.

 

The Berea College Appalachian Fund was established through a gift from Herbert Faber and Ruth McGurk Faber. Since 1950, the Fund has supported nonprofits working to improve the general education, health and physical well being of people living in the Appalachian Mountains and surrounding areas.

 

Saint Joseph Berea plans to begin providing digital mammography services in February 2014.  The Saint Joseph Berea Foundation funded the purchase of the $350,000 digital mammography suite through private donations.

 

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer found in women. Mammograms are the preferred diagnostic test to find breast cancer in its early stages and digital mammography is a critical tool in this early detection. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine determined that digital mammograms were superior to film mammograms for women under 50 years of age, women with dense breasts and women who have not yet gone through menopause, or who have been in menopause less than one year. 

 

Digital mammograms are stored electronically and can be analyzed by computers as well as by radiologists. They also take more views of each breast than traditional film mammograms and use less radiation.

 

“Expanding digital mammography services throughout central and eastern Kentucky is important to help increase screenings and save lives,” said Barry A. Stumbo, President and CEO of the Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation. “We are grateful to the partnership of the Berea College Appalachian Fund to help support critical screenings for women in need in the Berea area.”

 

To learn how you can help the critical needs of the Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation, including additional needs for the digital mammography program at Saint Joseph Berea, call the Foundation at 859.313.1705.

 

About KentuckyOne Health
KentuckyOne Health was formed when two major Kentucky health care organizations came together in early 2012. KentuckyOne Health combines the Jewish and Catholic heritages of the two former systems – Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System. In late 2012, the organization formed a partnership with the University of Louisville Hospital | James Graham Brown Cancer Center.  The nonprofit system is committed to improving the health of Kentuckians by integrating medical research, education, technology and health care services wherever patients receive care. KentuckyOne Health has more than 200 locations including hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies across the state of Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is the largest health system in Kentucky.

 

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