Sutter Health's 'Mammo-van' testing patients for breast cancer in East Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. - As Hispanic Heritage Month ends, and health care workers are in the heart of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a primarily Latino community in East Oakland is getting life-saving treatment through early screening for breast cancer.
La Clinica patients in East Oakland climbed aboard Sutter Health’s mobile mammography van on Monday, including Erendira Bruno, who said this is her first time getting screened on the "mammo-van."
In Spanish, Bruno said it’s difficult for her to travel far distances, but this is close to her home. She also said it’s important to her to get screened, because her cousin is a breast cancer survivor.
Since 2020, Sutter Health has been bringing the 40-foot mammo-van to the East Bay, staffed by breast health specialists.
"Black women and Latinas, as well as women from low socio-economic backgrounds, have 2.5 times higher risk of dying from breast cancer, and the biggest source of that disparity is access to appropriate screening," said Dr. Benjamin Raber, a breast cancer surgeon at Sutter Health East Bay.
He said that is why they bring screening to them, at no cost to the patients, so they can find early-stage cancers that are easily curable.
"Early detected breast cancer before symptoms is equal to a 98% cure-rate," he said.
Patients at La Clinica often face transportation and language barriers to quality care.
A nurse practitioner at the facility, Mary Massella, said, "La Clinica staff and Sutter staff are able to provide this service to our patients in their own language, in the community that they know."
The health care workers said the van is equipped with a hospital-grade mammography machine. The 3D digital imaging device on the van is the most advanced standard of care.
Sutter Health said the van is funded by Peter Read, a philanthropist whose wife died of breast cancer.
Overall, patients said the experience on the mammo-van was fast and easy – and well-worth it.
Sutter Health said if the exam reveals a negative result, patients are handed off for further testing and treatment at equitable costs.
The van will be parked at three more clinics in Oakland later this month, serving patients by appointment-only at Lifelong on Friday the 18th, the West Oakland Health Center on Wednesday the 23rd, and Roots Community Health Center on Monday the 28th.
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