Free Breast Cancer Screenings Offered for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Planned Parenthood of Nassau County (PPNC) and Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program are sponsoring a breast cancer screening event to help low-income and uninsured women in the community access no-cost mammograms and clinical breast exams.  

The Nu-Health/Nassau Health Care Corporation mammography van will be at PPNC’s health center at 540 Fulton Avenue in Hempstead on Friday, October 19 from 8:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. On-site nurses and technicians will provide a mammography and a clinical breast examination. Patients and their physicians will be notified of the exam results.    

“Early detection saves lives,” said PPNC’s President & CEO, JoAnn D. Smith. “Women too often aren’t aware of their own breast health, dismiss a lump as something that doesn’t need attention, or are paralyzed by fear. Or, even worse, they simply can’t afford a visit to the doctor. Waiting can change the course of a woman’s life, and that’s why Planned Parenthood is urging women to get screened.”  

PPNC plays an essential role in ensuring that low-income, at-risk women in the community have access to breast health screenings. In their health centers in Hempstead, Glen Cove and Massapequa, they provide more than 4,200 breast exams annually. In addition, PPNC receives a grant from the local Susan G. Komen affiliate, Komen Greater NYC, to underwrite Sisters United in Health, a coalition that provides lifesaving breast health education and referrals for cancer screenings to thousands of low-income, medically underserved women of color on Long Island.  

Mammograms will be available to all women in Nassau County who are age 40 and older and who have never had a mammogram or are due for their annual screening. Priority will be given to women without health insurance, who will not have to pay any out-of-pocket costs for screening. Women with insurance should bring their insurance card, co-pay, doctor’s information and mammogram prescription.  

Patients will be required to show ID at the time of the mammogram. Any woman who has had a prior mammogram should bring the original mammography films.  

Appointments are necessary and scheduled on a first come, first serve basis. To make an appointment or for more information, call 516-750-2500.