St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Offering Free Mammograms During October

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and for the seventh year in a row, St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia is providing free mammograms to uninsured women in Franklin and Hart counties.

Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in America, and about 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime.

And African-American women are at a higher risk for the disease.

The good news is that if caught and treated early, most women can survive breast cancer.

St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital encourages women to get a mammogram once a year and perform a breast self-exam once a month.

It’s also a good idea to talk to your doctor about your risk for breast cancer, especially if your family has a history of breast or ovarian cancer.

St. Mary’s spokesman Mark Ralston says St. Mary’s Sacred Heart offers state-of-the-art 3-D mammograms, which are more accurate.

“Women receiving the no-cost mammograms will receive state-of-the-art 3D mammography, which has been shown to be about 40 percent more effective than 2D mammography in finding tumors. It also reduces the number of false alarms compared to 2D imaging,” he said.

Ralston said appointments are required and will be scheduled on a first-call, first-served basis.

“To be eligible, women must be at least 40 years old, have no history of breast problems, be uninsured, have not received a mammogram in at least 12 months, be a resident of Franklin or Hart County, and have a primary care physician or health care provider to receive the results,” Ralston explained.

Additionally, women who don’t have a primary care provider are urged to contact the Franklin County Health Department at 706.384.5575 or the Hart County Health Department at 706.376.5117.

To make an appointment, you can call St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital at 706.356.7808.