It’s not just in October, which serves as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, that you can find the ECU Health Cancer Care Outreach team making connections in the community.
Jennifer Lewis, outreach coordinator for cancer care at ECU Health Medical Center, said she spends much of her time reaching out to community partners, talking to groups in Pitt County and beyond, and connecting with ECU Health patients and families. However, she said, the most rewarding part of her job is the monthly free breast clinic she helps run.
The clinic, for women in Pitt County age 40 and older who are low income and do not have health insurance, provides screening mammograms while sharing other resources available for health care in the area with those participating in the screening.
Lewis said she is grateful to help with the program and is proud of the impact it has on Pitt County.
“Patients don’t see a bill because of donations to the Cancer Center and the ECU Health Foundation, and that’s just an amazing thing we get to offer,” Lewis said. “We start with a breast exam by a provider to check for obvious abnormalities. Then they have their 3D mammogram, so they get state of the art imaging just like anyone else would get and they don’t get lesser quality. If they have an area that is of suspicion, we can do a diagnostic mammogram and if the radiologist looks at those images and feels like there’s some more concern about something, next would be an ultrasound of that area of suspicion. The program that we have here pays for all that.”
She shared that while ECU Health Beaufort Hospital and Outer Banks Health currently have their own programs outside of Greenville and Pitt County, other hospitals across ECU Health’s system are working toward establishing the program as well.
Lewis said the partnerships and volunteerism associated with the program make it truly special. She and her team work closely with the Pitt County Health Department to help patients who need further care through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP).
“We can’t do this without our partners, that’s for sure,” Lewis said. “We have such a great working relationship with the Pitt County Health Department and the mammography technicians, Patient Access Services, Language Access, Volunteer Services, radiology and ultrasound, and then our nurse residents who help out all work together so well. After patients are seen during the free clinic day, we have Access East on hand, too, to share information and resources about other services they can get access to. It’s such great teamwork all around that makes these events successful.”
The program sees so many patients throughout the year that they’ve recently added an extra clinic day twice a year, once in February and once in October, to help meet the needs of the community.
While Lewis is frequently in the community talking to groups and spreading awareness, October is especially important. She said she’ll spend much of the month meeting with community groups and in churches discussing risk factors, signs and symptoms and why screenings are important.
“This month is an intentional time set aside to speak about risk factors, family history, and signs and symptoms, because that’s the one time of the year that you can sit back and think, ‘OK, am I having any of these symptoms?’ Or ‘What is my family history? Because last year I didn’t have any, but this year my mother or sister has been diagnosed with it.’ It really creates that intention for people to have that moment sometime during the month,” Lewis said. “Whether it’s an ad on Facebook or hearing someone like me speak, it’s important to have that moment of reflection, remind yourself to get a mammogram and just put that in the forefront of women’s minds.”
She said if there’s one thing she could remind the community, it’s that anyone can be diagnosed with breast cancer. She noted that there are many myths, including that because someone is without family history, is otherwise healthy or is a male, that they cannot develop breast cancer. This is why she said it’s critical for everyone to be aware of signs and symptoms and receive screenings as recommended.
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