Focused on a Cure, a local grant organization, awarded Novant Health Rowan Medical Center a $17,000 grant to provide free mammogram screenings and breast cancer education for uninsured or underinsured patients in the community.

This grant provides free mammograms at Novant Health Imaging located on the campus of the Novant Health Rowan Medical Park on Julian Road at 514 Corporate Circle, as well as through the center’s mobile mammography unit. Focus on a Cure has provided a total of $53,000 in grant funding since 2011.

The grant also covers the cost of screenings for using the new 3-D mammogram technology, also known as tomosynthesis, which is used as a complement to standard digital mammography. It provides physicians with a more-detailed view of the breast to help identify potential problems that may not be visible on a standard mammography.

Underinsured or uninsured patients ages 35 and up who live in Rowan County are encouraged to receive a free screening with the grant’s funds.

“We are working to significantly decrease the number of breast cancer victims we lose every year from our community through early detection,” said Rick Parker, director of Novant Health Foundation Rowan Medical Center. “This year, our goal is to raise money for a new mobile unit that will include 3-D mammogram technology.”

According to the 2013 State of the County Health Report, the 2011 breast cancer mortality rate in Rowan County was 34 percent, well above the North Carolina state average of 26 percent.

Focused on a Cure, a grant organization founded by Irresistible Portraits Foundation, promotes breast cancer awareness through its Survivor Exhibit. The exhibit showcases images that tell the story of a breast cancer patient’s journey, and donates all funds back into the community through its grant process.

For more information, call the foundation office at
704-210-6880. To schedule your mammogram, call 704-210-7762 or visit NovantHealth.org/Pink.