Mobile health unit heads to Darlington County

The Charles & Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Foundation is funding the Hollings Cancer Center Mobile Health Unit to come to Darlington County to provide prostate and mammogram screenings.

“The whole point is early detection for your life,” said Kathy Baxley of the Free Medical Clinic who will be coordinator of the events.

The mobile health unit will be providing prostate and mammogram screenings Oct. 12-16 in Darlington, Society Hill, Hartsville and Lamar. There are 25 appointments available each day. On Friday, 35 of the 125 slots had been filled.

Charles Coker called a meeting with MUSC representatives and came up with the idea of bringing the mobile unit to the area. He sat down with doctors and community leaders to see if this would be a good thing to fund, said Baxley.

The funding from the Coker Foundation will allow the mobile unit to visit the county 10 days each year for three years. The unit will return in March to provide five more days of screenings.

“The Coker Foundation has been so generous,” said Baxley. “I was honored to do this. I really want to see it taken advantage of.”

People who wish to participate must call to set up an appointment ahead of time. Baxley also suggests interested residents go by the locations to fill out the informational sheets. These sheets must be sent to Charleston before the mobile units arrive. Registration will allow the unit to have patient information loaded into its system to keep the records accurately.

You can also register in person at the Free Medical Clinics in Hartsville and in Darlington.

You do not have to have insurance to participate. The screenings are provided free of charge. If you do have insurance, bring your insurance card with you.

“The mammogram takes about 20 minutes and the prostate exam takes 15 minutes or less, so it doesn’t take a lot of time,” said Baxley.

Patients and their physicians will receive results from the tests within the following week. If a patient does not have a doctor, MUSC will help that person get a follow-up, especially if tests come back abnormal.

For the prostate screening, there are two phases, a blood test and a physical exam. Men can sign up for just the blood test.

Physicians suggest that men should get a baseline blood test at age 40. Women should have mammograms every year beginning at age 40.

Baxley has a family member who had the blood test that caught an aggressive form of prostate cancer early, at age 50. He was lucky they found it so early, she said.

About 9,000 people die each year in South Carolina from cancer according to MUSC.

In South Carolina in underserved and rural areas, 30 percent of African Americans have a significantly lower life expectancy and higher rate of cancer death.

“To not take advantage of this gift for this area,” said Baxley. “It just breaks my heart that there are people that could get care that won’t.”

Mobile Health Unit Schedule

• Oct. 12: Darlington - Free Medical Clinic, 203 Grove St. – Prostate Screenings – (843) 398-0060
  
• Oct. 13: Society Hill - CareSouth Carolina, 737 S. Main St. – Prostate Screenings – (8430 378-4501
  
• Oct. 14: Hartsville – Free Medical Clinic, 500 W. Carolina Ave. – Prostate Screenings – (843) 332-0422
  
• Oct. 15: Hartsville – CareSouth Carolina, 201 S. Fifth St. – Mammograms – (843) 332-3422
  
• Oct. 16: Lamar – Piggly Wiggly, 100 N. Railroad Ave., Lamar – Mammograms – (843) 398-0060