St. Joseph Health Cancer Center Awarded Grant

With this grant, St. Joseph will develop a breast health education and screening program, Know Your Breast, Knowledge is Power, that focuses on high risk screenings, under-served populations and access, and certified education to providers. This program supports breast health and cancer support and is synonymous with Pink Alliance mission of providing informative resources and offering medical treatments to those with limited means.

“After treatment, breast cancer patients have to deal with a “new normal” and it takes some time to become familiar with that. This grant will allow us to provide them with tools to evaluate their changing breast during and after treatment. Our breast health navigator will be able to work with patients one-on-one during this process, as well as offer materials for home training if needed,” said Misti Chapman, MSCPM, RT(R) (T), Director of the Cancer Center at St. Joseph Health.

Funds from this grant will specifically purchase exam tables, breast models, training models and more that will allow Breast Health Navigator and Certified MammaCare, specialist Elizabeth Freeman, to provide clinical breast exams and on-going education to patients. Freeman is one of six MammaCare specialists statewide, certified to teach the public self-breast exam, perform clinical breast exams and teach providers and clinical staff how to perform clinical breast exams using the MammaCare Method.

The breast program at St.  Joseph Health Cancer Center is accredited by the ACOS National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) and uses best practice methods in the treatment of breast cancer. Additionally, our mammography service is Breast Imaging Center of Excellence accredited and American College of Radiology accredited. The program offers two health navigators. A breast health navigator to help navigate patients from the point of screening to biopsy and an oncology nurse navigator who navigates patients throughout their course of treatment and helps break down any barriers to care.

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About St. Joseph Health

Established in 1936, St. Joseph Health is a faith-based, not-for-profit health system committed to excellence and compassion in caring for the mind, body and spirit while creating healthier communities. St. Joseph Health is comprised of five hospital facilities across the Brazos Valley, including Regional Hospital, the region’s highest level trauma center. St. Joseph Medical Group operates more than a dozen primary and specialty care clinics around the region, offering expert care, closer to home. St. Joseph Health is a part of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), one of the nation’s largest health systems. For more information, visit CHIStJoseph.org.

Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, CHI operates in 19 states and comprises more than 103 hospitals, including four academic medical centers and teaching hospitals; 30 critical-access facilities; community health services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home health agencies; and other services that span the inpatient and outpatient continuum of care. For more information, visit CatholicHealthInitiatives.org.

About Pink Alliance

PINK ALLIANCE, your advocate for breast cancer support in the Brazos Valley, is a non-profit 501 [c] (3) organization formed in 2007 by eight local women who are breast cancer survivors. Pink Alliance serves as the Brazos Valley’s advocate for breast health and cancer support by providing reliable, informative resources; inspiring hope through individual and group support; and offering access to medical treatments for those with limited means.  All board members and volunteers provide services to the community without compensation.