Carle Health helps provide free mammograms

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (WCIA) — Carle Hospital will offer free mammograms for National Mammography Day this Friday.

The free mammograms will be available at the Carle BroMenn Outpatient Center on Empire Street in Bloomington from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“We are so happy to empower individuals who may or may not be a patient at Carle BroMenn,” said Beth Ghidina, Imaging Services Director at Carle BroMenn Medical Center. “This is an opportunity to take action toward managing their health. Essential to surviving a breast cancer diagnosis is early detection.”

The free mammograms were made possible by a grant from the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, as well as due to support from Prairie State Women’s Health .

Visitors will be asked to show proof of age and income. A driver’s license, state identification or birth certificate is an acceptable form of ID. To show proof of income, visitors can show the last 30 days of pay stubs or an income tax return with adjusted gross income listed.

Those without documentation will still be able to be screened, they’ll just be asked to fill out income statements.

According to Carle, breast cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death among women. They also said 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with a kind of breast cancer in their life.

However, four million breast cancer survivors are currently alive in the U.S. Mammogram screenings can help detect cancer early, which helps with early treatment and survival.

Any questions about the screening or qualifications can be directed to BroMenn’s Medical Center at (309) 268-2662.

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