WOMEN'S HEALTH

AltaMed has successfully increased our breast cancer screening rates among uninsured women from 38% in 2012 to 78% in 2016, when we screened over 2,300 uninsured women. In order to screen at least 2,300 uninsured women in 2018, we will need to raise $163,300. Join us on this mission to ensure that every woman has access to a breast cancer screening!

Money Raised

$45,400

Screenings it will provide: 639

Updated on: 10/19/2017

Survival Rate When Detected Early

0 %

Survival Rate When Detected Late

0 %

AltaMed is dedicated to increasing the number of uninsured women who receive potentially life-saving services, such as breast cancer screenings. With your help, we can reach more women and ensure they receive the care they need to stay healthy.

With this funding, we can provide more breast cancer screenings to uninsured and underinsured women. Increased funding enables us to conduct outreach so that the women most in-need of these screenings know how to access them. Our goal is to continue increasing funding–and our breast cancer screening rate along with it–so that every woman in-need can receive life-saving preventative health care.

AltaMed provides comprehensive women’s health services to those in need. This includes preventative services such as breast cancer screenings. Women who are low-income, uninsured or underinsured typically lack access to these preventative services, which are essential to detecting cancer early. When detected at an early stage, the breast cancer survival is as high as 98% compared to only 27% if detected at a later stage. Because lower income women cannot afford breast cancer screenings, abnormalities are more likely to be detected later, thus decreasing their chance of survival. AltaMed reaches out to those in our community who typical would not receive a screening and provide it to them at no cost. If an abnormality is detected, AltaMed staff will ensure that they receive further testing and all necessary treatment to become–and remain–cancer-free.

$71 will help us reach out to one woman and provide her with a breast cancer screening.

MEET SONIA

Sonia is a Patient who successfully battled breast cancer not once but twice, with help from AltaMed and programs for women like her.

Sonia

Sonia was only 35 when she found a lump in her breast, one of every woman’s worst fears. And worse yet, she had nowhere to go because she was working part-time on a visa without insurance. She began reaching out to clinics in Orange County, but none of them would provide a mammogram or ultrasound because she was under 40. Then she called AltaMed.

AltaMed

“AltaMed was very concerned, listened to me and didn’t discriminate based on my age,” she explains. Two days later, she had an appointment for an exam, a mammogram and an ultrasound. Sonia was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. “My main concern was that I didn’t have insurance,” she says. An AltaMed Care Coordinator helped her enroll in insurance to cover her treatment and surgeries, including a mastectomy and reconstruction, as she successfully beat breast cancer.

Situation

In the last two years, however, Sonia tested positive once again for Stage 2 breast cancer. Worse yet, her sister was also diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer. The two sisters underwent treatment together under the care of the same great AltaMed doctors. Today, both Sonia and her sister are happy to report that they are cancer-free. “I have just one cosmetic surgery left to go. I can’t imagine being with any other health care provider.”

Access

Sonia is not alone. Thousands like her lack access to essential preventative health services. While we are very proud of the progress we have made, there are still so many more women that AltaMed could help. With your support, we can continue to expand women’s health services to more women in-need in our very own community.

$71 will help us reach out to one woman and provide her with a breast cancer screening. AltaMed has made significant strides in increasing access to care in our communities. Join our mission!