It looks like any other mammography suite. An imaging machine stands tall, not far from controls and computer screens. There’s even a discreet changing room. But this room is on wheels.
Jamie Hobbs is the mammography department supervisor at Roseland Community Hospital
“What I am learning, it’s very convenient most patients,” Hobbs said. “Most patients that get on this van and receive a screening mammogram are very, very thankful.”
Hobbs manages the Roseland Community Hospital mobile unit. The job is close to her heart. Her aunt, who raised her, fought breast cancer.
“I felt that if I can give a helping hand to people like my aunt that has experienced these problems, or may experience these problems, the biggest thing to me is making a patient feel comfortable,” she said.
The van is designed to reach patients who can’t make it to the hospital for their regular screenings.
“It may be transportation issues, it may be they don’t have insurance,” Hobbs said.
That was the case for Katrina Madkins.
“I was searching for places that I could go but I didn’t have any insurance,” she said.
That’s not a problem here. Roseland Community Hospital on Chicago’s South Side works closely with the Illinois Breast Cervical Cancer program to help fund patient care.
“As long as you reside in the state of Illinois, we can do your mammogram and that program will cover the cost and they will contact you to make sure you are up on your cervical screenings,” Hobbs said.
“At one point the mobile van was by Cottage Grove. I went and I was able to be seen. I’m grateful for that,” Madkins said.
As soon as Hobbs saw Madkins’s scan, she knew. The large mass was likely cancer.
“I come back to this hospital and I alert the doctors that this patient needs an immediate reading and then we go from there,” Hobbs said.
“She made me feel very comfortable during and after the fact,” Madkins said.
She is now getting chemotherapy with the hope her tumor will shrink. Then she’ll likely have a lumpectomy.
“You have to be 40-years-old and above to get a screening mammogram, but don’t get that confused with having an issue. If you have an issue go to your local doctor they can give you a referral,” Hobbs said.
To reach the Roseland Community Hospital mobile mammography van, contact (773) 995-3000 or log on to www.roselandhospital.org
That’s when patients may need more images and supplemental tests not offered in the mobile unit.
The van rolls out of Roseland daily. The team tries to reach 50 to 70 patients each week.
“It’s really not a radius. We say if it’s not going to take us two days to get there, we’ll be there!” Hobbs said.
“You got to keep your energy up, blessed every day,” Madkins said. “When you wake up in the morning, that’s the first blessing of the day. Gotta be grateful for it.”
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