Rural Cancer Screening: Providence Alaska Medical Center reveals new mobile mammography coach

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) -Providence Alaska Medical Center (PAMC) revealed this fall a new weapon it’s using to fight breast cancer. On September 30th, Providence held a blessing and ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new, donor-funded, 36-foot Freightliner mobile mammography coach. PAMC said that the new coach will allow them to continue providing mammograms to Alaskans statewide.

“This coach has the same technology that our mammography machines in the Providence Imaging Center have, which is the latest three-dimensional technology that can see earlier lesions in dense breast,” Maggie Miller, the Lead Genetic Counselor at PAMC, said. “When we find breast cancer early, we can do less treatment…And the earlier we detect a breast lesion, the lower the chance they need as aggressive a treatment.”

According to PAMC, the coach will help break down medical barriers that impact rural parts of the state. Medical professionals will be able to travel with the van to different parts of the state, such as Cordova and Valdez, to perform mammograms on Alaskans.

“Being able to go into the areas that women can’t or won’t come to the hospital. So that’s the most rewarding thing to me is really being able to get out in the community and reach the women that can’t come in,” Britney Winkler, PAMC’s lead Mobile mammography tech, said.

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