North Oaks Health System Receives Grant from Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Baton Rouge Affiliate

Sept. 23, 2011 - PRLog -- [Hammond, LA]–The Baton Rouge Area Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has awarded a $100,000 grant to North Oaks Health System. In recognition of the fact that Louisiana leads the nation in the rate of breast cancer deaths, the goal of the project is to increase the number of uninsured and underinsured women who receive free screening mammograms over the next 6 months.  

The North Oaks breast screening project will offer up to 1,000 vouchers for complimentary screening mammograms to local health care providers to distribute to women, who meet screening guidelines. Participating health care providers may distribute the vouchers to any woman whom they believe may benefit from having an opportunity for a free screening mammogram at North Oaks Diagnostic Center in Hammond or North Oaks-Livingston Parish Medical Complex in Livingston. Both facilities are equipped with the Senographe Essential Digital Mammography System, developed by General Electric Medical Systems. It produces breast images more efficiently for added patient convenience with less waiting time. Digital mammograms at North Oaks are performed by an all-female staff in half the time of traditional film screen mammography.

Participating in the presentation of grant funds, from left, were: Susan G. Komen Baton Rouge Affiliate Board Member Ashley Gibson Bowers, PhD and Executive Director Janet Dewey-Kollen; North Oaks Board of Commissioners Chairman Guy Recotta Jr., Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer Robert Peltier, MD, Patient Services Program Liaison and grant administrator Ellienne Tate, EdD, RN, Senior Vice President/Quality Resources Sandy Patterson, RNC; and Susan G. Komen Baton Rouge Affiliate Past Board President Lucie Agosta, PhD, RNC.


“Our innovative partnership with the Komen Baton Rouge Affiliate represents our mission and vision at work. It promotes health and wellness in our region while broadening access to our services,” explains Dr. Ellienne Tate, North Oaks Patient Services Program Liaison and grant administrator. “Early detection is vital to finding breast cancer, and a key to early detection is screening. We know that screening mammography helps to identify breast cancer at its earliest and most treatable stage. Each screening mammogram administered through this project gives a woman in the communities we serve hope for a lifetime of love with her family.”

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, and the Baton Rouge Affiliate is one of 125 Affiliates on the front lines dedicated to ending breast cancer in their communities. Through events like the Komen Baton Rouge Race for the Cure, the Affiliate has invested $2.4 million (all donated funds) in community breast cancer programs in the 10 parish greater Baton Rouge area. Up to 75 percent of net proceeds generated by the Affiliate stays in the area. The remaining 25 percent funds national breast cancer research.

The North Oaks Mammography Program is staffed by board-certified radiologists and certified, licensed mammography technologists, who meet all requirements set forth by the Food and Drug Administration and American College of Radiology.

“At the Komen Baton Rouge Affiliate, we conducted a needs assessment of our 10-parish service area community and discovered that Livingston, St. Helena and Tangipahoa have high death rates due to breast cancer,” said Lucie Agosta, PhD, RNC, and Affiliate Past Board President.  “We are confident that through the North Oaks Health System Breast Screening Project that women in these communities will have low-cost access to screening services vital for early detection of breast cancer.”

For more information about the Komen Baton Rouge Affiliate, call (225) 615-8740 or visit www.komenbatonrouge.org. For more information about the North Oaks breast screening project, call North Oaks Communications at (985) 230-6647.

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About North Oaks Health System
North Oaks Health System is a community-based hospital organization with nearly 3,000 employees, physicians and volunteers, serving the Florida Parishes of Louisiana since 1960. Facilities include the 259-bed North Oaks Medical Center (under expansion), 27-bed North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital, North Oaks Heart Health Services,North Oaks Diagnostic Center, North Oaks-Livingston Parish Medical Complex, North Oaks Hospice Agency, North Oaks Outpatient Rehabilitation Services, and a progressive physician medical group network of primary care and specialty health care providers. For more information, visit www.northoaks.org or call (985) 230-6647 or (225) 686-4800.