'Cancer can grow': OhioHealth mammography unit screened 1,000 patients during first year

An extra 1,000 women received mammograms in the past year, thanks to OhioHealth's new mobile mammography unit.

Those are patients who would have either never received screening or delayed it a few more years, according to Lori Holzworth, imaging manager for OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital.

"If the lady's got a lump, it can go from the size of a pea to the size of a golf ball in months," Holzworth said. "If you kick that can down the road a year or two years, that cancer can grow and spread."

That's why the health system unveiled the drivable clinic in the summer of 2023 to serve patients in Richland, Ashland, Crawford, Marion and surrounding counties.

Mammography unit offers private and secure screenings

The new mobile unit was made possible thanks to $1.5 million in donations from companies and businesses from throughout the region

OhioHealth took existing mammographers, like Beth Fetzer, and transitioned them to the new mission. The entire staff are female.

"I drive," Fetzer said. "Myself and two others, we got our (licenses). We do all the precheck, checking the tires and the oil."

Once they arrive to a remove location, they stabilize the truck and calibrate their equipment before running a few quality assurance tests.

"It's a lot more than what you really think," Fetzer said. "There's a long process."

Once the mobile unit is ready, the mammographers are ready to start accepting patients. It might be mobile, but the unit has all the mammography amenities someone would expect from a full-sized hospital.

"We have a registration area where they get all their current information and their insurance," Fetzer said. "We have two separate dressing areas that flow right into the exam room, so that they're never stepping out into a public area in a gown."

How do you schedule the OhioHealth mammography unit?

Companies, organizations and other entities can contact OhioHealth to schedule a visit by the mobile mammography unit.

"We went over to Marion for a Latina event, a heritage days," Holzworth said. "They don't have access to a lot of healthcare at all, so we went to a church and set up."

Mammograms are not free, but there are options for those without insurance.

"There’s a form they can fill out so they can get assistance," Holzworth said. "There are options."

Groups can schedule a visit from the mobile mammography unit by calling 614-566-1111.

"We start scheduling 45 days in advance," Fetzer said.

What age should you get a mammogram?

Once the unit has a trip planned, patients from that location will let OhioHealth know they plan to visit.

"We're going to want to get the patient’s prior imaging," Holzworth said. "We want your prior imaging to give you the best outcome because we don't want to miss anything."

Patients who have never had a mammogram or who have lost contact with their previous healthcare provider are encouraged to visit so that OhioHealth can begin building an imaging record.

Mammograms should begin at age 40.

"Then they need to come back every year," Holzworth said. "That cancer could really grow in a matter of months."

ztuggle@gannett.com

419-564-3508