Mobile mammography unit to visit Pee Dee sites

FLORENCE — The Digital McLeod Mobile Mammography Unit is planning several visits during the summer to sites across the northeastern region of South Carolina.

The McLeod Mobile Mammography Unit takes digital mammogram screenings to women at health care facilities, businesses, industries and health fairs to reach women who do not undergo a mammogram for lack of time, awareness and access. The unit provides a convenient, comfortable, and private setting in which women can undergo a screening mammogram (an X-ray of the breast used to detect breast changes in women who have no signs or symptoms of breast cancer).

The dates, times and sites for the summer’s scheduled visits are:

• June 23, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. McLeod Family Medicine Timmonsville, 755 E. Smith St., Timmonsville.
• June 30, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Pate Medical Associates, 116 Hospital Square, Bishopville.
• July 9, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., McLeod Family Medicine Center Johnsonville, 355 S. Georgetown Highway, Johnsonville.
• Aug. 5, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Curves Fitness for Women, 917 S. Irby St., Florence.

Any woman is able to have a screening mammogram performed on the mobile unit at these sites if she meets certain conditions and criteria. No physician order is required for a screening mammogram, but each woman must have a referring physician to receive the mammogram results.

This procedure will also require insurance or a method of payment as normal screening mammogram charges apply (no cash please). Medicaid, Medicare, and Best Chance Network are accepted. Generally, women should be 40 years of age or older and must not have had a screening mammogram performed in the past 12 months for most insurance coverage (check your individual plan).

Women may schedule a mammogram on the mobile unit at any of these locations by calling McLeod Reservations and Scheduling at (843) 777-2095 and choosing “Option 1.” They should mention that they wish to schedule an appointment on the McLeod Mobile Mammography Unit and the date and location they wish to schedule their mammogram. A list of available dates may also be found online at http://www.McLeodHealth.org under “McLeod Events.”

The state-of-the-art equipment on the mobile unit is identical to the three digital units located in the McLeod Breast Imaging Center. An all-female team of registered radiological technologists with advanced training in the discipline of mammography staff the mobile unit. Trained registration staff members on the unit discuss personal and financial information with each woman in a highly confidential setting.

The McLeod Mobile Mammography Unit was purchased through donations to the McLeod Health Foundation, and is available to businesses, industries, health care facilities and health fairs.