Don't forget about Screening Saturday
Join Stephanie Martin at SMC Screening Saturday this week at Shoshone Medical Center. The state of Idaho is ranked 51 out of 51 (including Washington, D.C.) when it comes to screening numbers, and then Shoshone is among the bottom 10 counties in the state.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
KELLOGG — Screening Saturday is tomorrow at Shoshone Medical Center.
The event is a special promotion by the hospital that allows uninsured women to get $50 mammograms in an effort to rectify one of Shoshone County’s statistical struggles.
The state of Idaho is ranked 51 out of 51 (including Washington, D.C.) when it comes to screening numbers, and then Shoshone is among the bottom 10 counties in the state.
According to Stephanie Martin, a radiology technician and mammographer at SMC, while those numbers are still discouraging, they have seen some improvement since October.
“Just looking at the numbers, especially since the fall — the number of screenings is on the rise,” Martin said. “I have seen several women who haven’t been in in a few years, some of that was due to the coronavirus, but it’s definitely getting better.”
The screening event is designed to promote health and awareness for breast cancer for all women, not just those with insurance, which makes the $50 self-pay opportunity a big time deal that SMC hopes gets taken advantage of.
Martin, along with SMC Business Development Coordinator Shayleen Jerome are working to make sure that the event is a positive one for those who come to get screened.
From warmed up robes, to special gift bags, the patients will be able to experience something that is more like a mammography spa event as opposed to a clinical visit — which is exactly how they want it to feel.
Unlike the usual process to get a breast cancer screening, Screening Saturday does not require any sort of referral from a primary care physician.
Those who wish to participate need only to fit the following criteria:
Be over 40 years of age, have no signs or symptoms of existing breast cancer, and you have to be due for an annual screening (meaning no screenings in the previous 365 days).
“The goal is to get women screened,” Jerome said. “You don’t have to have insurance, you don’t need an order, you just need to make an appointment.”
To schedule an appointment, call the SMC Radiology Department at 208-784-1384, and appointment space is limited.
Screening Saturday begins at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 8 at Shoshone Medical Center.