On. Oct. 21, NYC Councilman Oswald Feliz presented a $495,000 check to St. Barnabas Hospital that will provide for state-of-the-art technology that will support the hospital’s efforts in fighting breast cancer and other conditions.
The grant from the City Council includes $360,000 for retrofitting the hospital’s mammography van with the latest 3D technology. The van travels throughout the Bronx to diagnose women where they live. An additional $135,000 will be used for two diagnostic ultrasound imaging systems that will be made available at the Women’s Imaging Center at the SBH Health and Wellness Center, which provides full service for women from diagnosis to biopsy, and at the main hospital.
One in eight women in America will get breast cancer. The stage of breast cancer at diagnosis varies by racial/ethnic and socioeconomic group. According to the CDC, women from minority and medically underserved populations are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced or late-stage breast cancer, that has spread beyond the breast. This includes Black and Latina women, as well as those women with lower income or level of education. This became even more apparent during the height of the pandemic when many women put off screenings and treatment because of fear of exposure to COVID. Early diagnosis is key in reducing death and disfigurement from breast cancer.
Women whose breast cancer is detected at an early stage have a 93% higher survival rate in the first five years, according to the American Cancer Society.
