Women's Mobile Health Screening Van Update

The Women’s Mobile Health Screening (WMHS) Van, which provides screening mammograms for women of Delaware each year, is busy visiting communities throughout the state after its upgrade to digital mammography equipment.  According to WMHS Program Manager Laura Nadel, the van has screened 502 Delaware women since the van returned to the road in July of 2010.

The Women's Mobile Health Screening Van

The WMHS Van was re-dedicated at Legislative Hall in Dover on October 4, 2010 and was attended by friends and volunteers of DBCC, legislators and members of the press.  The dedication included a presentation about how the van was recently retrofitted with new digital Hologic Selenia mammography equipment.  The dedication also featured a ribbon cutting ceremony and tours of the new digital equipment.  To read the press release about the dedication from the Delaware Health and Social Services office, please click here.

The van has been traveling the state visiting community centers, churches, libraries, senior centers and businesses.  Laura said that the WMHS Van recently visited the Korean Church in Hockessin, the Latina Conference in Wilmington, and Easter Seals in Georgetown to provide mammography screenings.

The van regularly visits pre-determined sites in the Wilmington, Newark, New Castle, Smyrna, Dover, Milford, Lewes, Georgetown, Seaford, and Frankford areas.  “In addition, WMHS screening has formed some excellent partnerships with Claymont Family Health and the Westside Health facilities and provides mammography services to their clients every month,” Laura explained. 
Read an article in the Delaware State News about the WMHS Van here.

Women’s Mobile Health Screening provides programs to reach out to underserved women who otherwise may not have access to mammograms.  Since 2005, the van has been managed and operated by Women’s Mobile Health Screening, LLC, a subsidiary of the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition (DBCC), through a contract with Screening for Life, a program of Delaware’s Division of Public Health.  Mammograms are processed by Beebe Medical Imaging.

To schedule a screening mammogram on the WMHS Van, women need to obtain a prescription for a mammogram from their doctor, call the WMHS office to make an appointment at 1-888-672-9647 and discuss how to obtain a copy of their previous mammogram films for comparison.  WMHS accepts Medicaid, Medicare, most health insurance and self-pay clients.  For more information about how to get screened on the van, please click here.  A list of frequently asked questions can be found here.

Additional new screening sites are added every month.  “WMHS is always anxious to explore new partnerships and looks forward to screening at the Swahili Church and the Sussex County Latina conference this Spring,” Laura added.  For more information about how to bring the van to a location in your community, please call 1-888-672-9647.