(Salt Lake City, UT) –The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) is partnering with employers throughout the state to make access to quality healthcare more convenient for employees. Some of Utah’s largest employers are jumping on board with this initiative. Bringing preventive healthcare screenings to employees at their workplace increases convenience for employees and reduces rising healthcare costs associated with diseases most effectively treated when found early.
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death among women and is most easily and successfully treated when found in its early stages. Despite the fact mammograms have the ability to find cancer years before it can be felt or women have symptoms, Utah ranks at the bottom of the nation in the number of women who get the recommended screenings.
Marie Nagata, Utah Cancer Control Program Manager, says, “Many women in Utah, even those with health insurance, are not getting screened for breast cancer. They put their families, work, and other obligations in front of their own health. Women say they don’t have time and some are afraid of finding out if something is wrong. Bringing a mobile mammography unit right to the workplace, allows employees to get these important screenings without ever leaving work and helps reduce fear associated with cancer screening.” She adds, “In just a few minutes, a woman can get screened for breast cancer and get back to work.” Insurance companies pay for mammograms done by a mobile unit just as they would if you went to the hospital. If a woman doesn’t have insurance, she can see if she qualifies for a free mammogram from the Utah Department of Health.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the annual median state cost for cancer treatment is $2 billion. Cancer screening not only saves lives, it reduces the financial impact of cancer. The UDOH partners with health systems to bring mobile mammography units to worksites at no cost to the employer.
To kick off the worksite initiative for 2020, the Utah Department of Health has partnered with the Salt Lake School District and Intermountain Healthcare for a mobile mammography event at Rose Park Elementary on January 31. Nagata says, “Public school districts are some of the largest employers of women in Utah, so it makes sense to begin our efforts here. Salt Lake School District has not only been eager to make sure their employees are getting screened, they also want to make sure the women in their community are getting screened. Information has been sent to families, and community coordinators in the district have been hard at work to educate the community about just how easy, and important, it is to be screened for breast cancer.”
If you would like more information about bringing a mobile mammography unit to your worksite, or would like to get screened at the Rose Park event, please call 1-800-717-1811.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/screenoutcancer/pdf/no-time-guesswork-508.pdf
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Media Contact:
Joelle Fierro
Cancer Control Program
(435) 671-7926
jfierro@utah.gov