It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an opportunity to remind women who find it challenging to schedule their annual mammogram that there are multiple ways to access mammography at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA). Make an appointment at the main clinic in South Lake Union or take advantage of the convenience of SCCA’s Mammogram Van, which travels around King County and offers the same quality of care as the clinic.
It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an opportunity to remind women who find it challenging to schedule their annual mammogram that there are multiple ways to access mammography at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA). Make an appointment at the main clinic in South Lake Union or take advantage of the convenience of SCCA’s Mammogram Van, which travels around King County and offers the same quality of care as the clinic. Find the Mammogram Van schedule here and read our 2018 story below about what it’s like to get a mobile mammogram:
There’s nothing subtle about the bright yellow 42-foot vehicle, affectionately known as the MammoVan, taking up a row of parking spaces outside a Neighborcare Health clinic in West Seattle. That’s by design.
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance’s mobile Mammogram Van plies the roads of King County, offering mammograms to walk-ins and appointments alike, with the same quality of care offered at SCCA’s main clinic in South Lake Union. “In this day and age, it’s got to be quick and convenient,” says Jovanna McKinney, manager of the mobile mammogram program, which screens 5,000 women annually.
The Mammogram Van travels frequently to underserved areas of the county, parking prominently in spots that are easily accessible to would-be patients. Safeway parking lots are a common location, as are community health clinics, where Metta Barden showed up earlier this month. It was a favorable day to get a mammogram — the first of October, which marked the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Barden, 61, lives five minutes from the Neighborcare High Point clinic and likes the convenience of getting her annual screening mammogram at the same place she sees her family physician. She also finds that she gets more one-on-one attention on the Mammogram Van, where two patients at most are on the van at a time. “I like the personal atmosphere here,” says Barden, a pancreatic cancer survivor who proudly showed off a video of her granddaughter celebrating her second birthday. “You feel comfortable around them. They get you in and out real quick.”
The van has a reception area and two private changing rooms that lead directly into the back of the exam area, where mammogram technologist Junel DeJarnett is waiting. DeJarnett also works in the main SCCA clinic, but her favorite days unfold on the Mammogram Van, where she has more time to connect with patients. “I like that we go to places that are far enough away from the clinic that patients who may put off their mammogram because it’s inconvenient find it easy to show up,” she says.
That’s the Mammogram Van’s mission since it first hit the road in 2007, part of a trend “to bring screening to where you live, where you work, where you shop,” says McKinney. Early detection helps save lives. “If you’re too busy to come to the clinic, we’ll come to you,” she says.
Audrey Gervasi likes that the van is designed to protect women’s privacy. “You’re not sitting in a waiting room with other women, half-dressed,” says Gervasi, 61, who was visiting the Mammogram Van for the first time. Repeat customer Anne Dore appreciates the location on the bus line. “Even with GPS I get lost,” says Dore, 61. “You can meet me where I already know how to go? I’ll be there.”
The patient experience and technology are identical to those at SCCA’s main clinic, where sophisticated 3D mammography is standard. The same radiologists who read the images at the clinic read the images from the mobile site. Patients receive letters in the mail within a week informing them of their results.
Patients are encouraged to make appointments, but there is often flexibility in the schedule to accommodate walk-ins. “If you see us, come knock on the door,” says McKinney.
Take a few minutes to find out where the Mammogram Van will be located next by accessing the schedule. The van motors around the county six days a week, with occasional Sunday hours. Patients can book an appointment by calling 206.606.7800.
