Mobile mammography unit hitting the road to offer services to rural Maine communities

GREENVILLE, Maine (WABI) – Increasing access to breast cancer screenings in rural areas is the goal at Northern Light CA Dean Hospital.

Their new mobile mammography unit is based at the hospital in Greenville. Mayo Hospital staff will handle the screening and scheduling.

They hope to hit the road this summer to serve other communities as well.

“We plan to go to several different rural communities and try to do different events in different locations and capture as many women as we can,” said Joann Lovell, Northern Light Mayo & CA Dean Hospital director of imaging. We hope that we become so busy that we need another unit.”

“I think they will want to come when it is in their backyard instead of traveling an hour, especially our patients past Greenville or past Rockwood. They might have to travel an hour just to get to our mobile service so traveling more than that is a huge burden for our patients,” explained Casey Whittemore, lead mammographer at Northern Light Mayo Hospital.

Screening mammograms are recommended for most women starting at the age of 40. But Northern Light says one-third of Piscataquis County women in that age group have not received a mammogram in the last two years.

“We like to do yearly screenings because early detection is the best detection and the sooner, we can diagnose these, the better diagnosis they get in the long run,” Lovell added.

This first-of-its-kind unit in Maine is equipped with the same technology as they would see inside the hospital.

“It’s 3D Tomosynthesis mammograms, which is top of the line in mamo {mammography},” said Whittemore.

Helping secure the funding for the mobile mammography unit was Senator Susan Collins.

You can schedule an appointment by calling 207-564-4353.

To learn more about mammograms at Northern Light Health, visit https://northernlighthealth.org/Services/Womens-Health/Breast-Care-and-Mammograms.

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