Mobile unit brings free screenings to Pee Dee residents

HARTSVILLE — A local foundation has partnered with the Medical University of South Carolina Health to bring the Hollings Cancer Center Mobile Health Unit back to Darlington County in March offer residents free mammograms and prostate cancer screenings.

“We have a lot of good organizations in this county doing screenings,” Kathy Baxley, director of the Free Medical Clinics of Darlington County, said. “This is just one more chance to catch something early and improve somebody’s life.”

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

“Early detection is so important,” Baxley said. She emphasized that today’s technological advances help more people survive cancer than ever before.

“The earlier anything suspicious is uncovered, the better the outcome.”

The screenings will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with 25 slots available each day, but advance registration is required for an appointment.

The dates and sites for mammograms are:

• March 8, Free Medical Clinic, 203 Grove St., Darlignton. Call (843) 398-0060.

• March 9, CareSouth Carolina, 737 S. Main St., Society Hill. Call (843) 378-4501.

• March 10, Free Medical Clinic, 500 W. Carolina Ave., Hartsville. Call (843) 332-0422.

The dates and sites for prostate screenings are:

• March 11, CareSouth Carolina, 201 S. Fifth St., Hartsville. Call (843) 332-3422.

• March 12, Piggly Wiggly, 100 N. Railroad Ave., Lamar. Call (843) 398-0060.

While the unit is scheduled to return to the county four more times in the next three years through the outreach grant, residents should be screened sooner rather than later.

“It’s a gift. We better take advantage of it,” Baxley said. “There’s no excuse not to get it done.”

The process is simple: call to sign up, show up, get screened and get results by mail and by phone. Anyone can register, insured or uninsured, county resident or not.

“First, Darlington County residents need to look at their family history. Do you have prostate or breast cancer anywhere in your family?” Baxley said.

Those who fit the age ranges and have not been screened or have a family history of these types of cancers should call to schedule an appointment, she said. The person on the phone will collect your basic demographic information to input into the mobile unit’s computer system in Charleston. You can stop by the Free Medical Clinic in Hartsville or Darlington to fill out the form and request an appointment, too. Then, all you have to do is show up at the appointed time and day.

Prostate cancer screenings are for men ages 50 and older and for black men with a positive history ages 45 and older. In South Carolina in underserved and rural areas, 30 percent of blacks have a significantly lower life expectancy and higher rate of cancer death.

The MUSC staff will draw blood for a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and do a prostate exam in 15 to 30 minutes. Men can just have the PSA blood test part of the prostate cancer screening if preferred, but the two tests in conjunction give more accurate results.

“If you want to be a real man, set the example and get your prostate exam,” Baxley said.

For women ages 35 to 64, the mammography screenings will take a few minutes longer.

After the screening, MUSC will contact patients with the results and connect them with the Free Medical Clinics, CareSouth or other provider if the patients don’t have a primary care physician. Patients can request that their doctors be notified of the results as well. MUSC will call and send a letter to ensure the results get to patients.

“Don’t wait for next year,” Baxley said.

She said five cancers were detected during the unit’s first visit in October. More than 100 people scheduled appointments, but only 67 showed.

“The people need to follow through,” Baxley said. “Do this for yourself. Do it for your family. Do it for a positive outcome in your life.”