Houston, TX [April 20, 2022] The Rose’s fourth and newest luxury mobile mammography coach, Lilly, has established permanent headquarters in East Texas. The goal of the East Texas Mobile Mammography Hub is to provide greater access to breast health care to counties throughout East Texas while also employing local residents for the work ahead. Chief Administrative Officer Jessica Duckworth explains, “The mobile coach program was started out of a need we heard from the community: access to care. There are many communities we go into that do not have an imaging facility or the 3D technology needed to provide life-saving screening mammograms. We are so pleased to have local resident Brandi Hamilton serve as our Hub Manager and she is accepting applications for other positions needed to fully staff this program.”
The Rose brings its mobile coaches to employers, clinics, schools, recreation centers, and community events in East Texas. Since the first coach launched in late 2017, women from over 43 counties have benefited from access to mammography screenings and early breast cancer detection. Duckworth added: “We have 80 potential partners requesting mobile days for their patients or employees and are excited to add them to our established list of partners.”
According to a recent patient survey, 65 percent of women the mobile coach program serves say they would not have gotten a mammogram otherwise. Co-founder Dorothy Gibbons says, “Since Texas boasts the highest uninsured rate in the nation, and half the women screened through our mobile units are uninsured, we hope the availability of screening will encourage more women to have their routine mammograms. We know early breast cancer detection leads to a 98% survival rate, and we are grateful we’ve found a way to better serve this community and help more women receive the care they need, regardless of their ability to pay.”
The establishment of the East Texas Hub will provide women with convenient access to 3D mammography screenings, which detect breast cancers earlier and save more lives. This is especially critical in many parts of rural Texas, where long travel times and a lack of imaging facilities with 3D mammography creates barriers to breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. A lack of access translates to poorer disease outcomes in rural women compared to their urban counterparts, according to a July 2021 study in Preventive Medicine.
The study reported that fewer available radiology facilities lead to lower mammography screening rates in rural areas, and median travel times to breast imaging services are about four to eight times longer for rural women. In addition, lower screening rates result in later-stage diagnosis, so rural breast cancer patients are 20 percent more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer compared to urban breast cancer patients.
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About The Rose
Since 1986, The Rose has provided high quality breast healthcare to all women, regardless of their ability to pay. Its mission is to save lives through quality breast health services, advocacy and access to care for all. As a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, The Rose is led by Fellowship trained physicians and offers advanced digital technology including 3-D tomosynthesis mammography, diagnostic workups, biopsies and its nationally recognized Patient Navigation Program ensures access to treatment and a continuum of care for all women. As a major part of Southeast Texas’ Healthcare Safety Net, The Rose is a strong advocate for quality breast healthcare and access to care. The Rose provides direct medical services to 40,000 insured and uninsured patients annually. Two Houston-based comprehensive Diagnostic Centers and Mobile Mammography Coaches provide services to women throughout 43 counties in Southeast Texas.
