SALISBURY, Md. - The healthcare provider TidalHealth, has launched an initiative to provide mammograms to more people in the community.
The TidalHealth Foundation has pledged to raise $1 million to launch a mobile mammogram unit to make the service more accessible. TidalHealth says this comes as people on the Delmarva Peninsula are challenged with financial and transportation restrictions.
"Breast cancer is a relentless adversary, affecting millions of lives worldwide each year. Its impact knows no bounds—it doesn't discriminate based on age, race, or socioeconomic status," said Steve Leonard, Ph.D., MBA, FACHE, President/CEO of TidalHealth.
The mobile unit will travel to Sussex County, Delaware, Worcester, Wicomico and Somerset Counties in Maryland visiting neighborhoods, workplaces and community centers. According to TidalHealth, while breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, an early diagnosis means the five-year survival rate is 99 percent.
50-year-old Hope Palmer is a breast cancer survivor in Ocean City. Palmer says access to resources is important when already fighting cancer.
"-the convenience of local facilities and mobile options that come directly to people is needed for both financial reasons as well as timing restraints for most women, particularly working women, today," said Palmer.
TidalHealth hopes to have the Mobile Mammography Unit up and running by 2026. To learn more or contribute, visit tidalhealth.org/mobilemammo.