{"id":470073,"date":"2026-05-05T20:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/470073\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T20:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:25:10","slug":"unc-health-rex-launches-new-mobile-mammography-unit-in-21-counties-wral-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/470073\/","title":{"rendered":"UNC Health Rex launches new mobile mammography unit in 21 counties :: WRAL.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly a quarter of women ages 50-74 had not received an annual mammogram in at least two years, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>\u00a0(CDC).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The same CDC data further found that three out of 10 women in the same age range with three or more health-related social needs had not received a mammogram.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Women who reported cost as a barrier to care were twice as likely to skip a mammogram. Social isolation, access to care, and transportation were all found to be contributing factors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UNC Health Rex Hospital unveiled its new mobile mammography unit on May 5, aimed at reducing some of those barriers for patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe named her Hope Esperanza,\u201d shared Romona Wells, radiology supervisor with UNC Health Rex Mobile Mammography. \u201cThe definite need is to reach those who are not able to access screening. We don\u2019t want to create any more reasons for them to not get early breast detection.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unit will provide 3D breast screenings to patients with and without insurance within a 55-mile radius of Raleigh\u2013areas which often experience limited access to health services.<\/p>\n

Wells said taking care to the patient, rather than relying on them to reach a clinic, helps eliminate fear. She said it also provides an opportunity to educate women on breast self-exams and other ways to spot early warning signs at home.<\/p>\n

The unit will serve the following 21 counties: Wake, Johnston, Durham, Franklin, Harnett, Orange, Granville, Chatham, Alamance, Person, Lee, Nash, Wilson, Wayne, Vance, Randolph, Caswell, Sampson, Edgecombe, Cumberland and Halifax.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Staff is also able to provide care in Spanish. Mary Ferrer Hoppman, program director of the Centro para Familias Hispanas with the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh, said having bilingual health services makes a big difference for her community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen women come to us, they\u2019re coming for other needs, but usually they will say, \u2018Do you know where I can get a mammogram, or a pap smear?\u2019\u201d Ferrer Hoppman said. \u201cMany of them don\u2019t speak the language, so they don\u2019t know where to go to ask for help. It\u2019s our responsibility to find those services and programs that are available that could serve our population.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferrer Hoppman encouraged women to reach out to their local community health centers to find out if similar programs are available where they are, stating, \u201cEverything starts with prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American Cancer Society<\/a> recommends women of average risk be screened annually starting at age 45, with the option to begin at 40. Wells said it is important to learn your family history. If you don\u2019t or are unable to learn it, she suggests talking to your doctor about early screening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

May marks the 25th anniversary for the UNC Rex Mobile Mammography Program. The program has provided screenings for more than 83,000 women, with roughly half receiving the services at no cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For additional information about the Rex Mobile Mammography, visit UNC Health Rex\u2019s website<\/a>\u202for call\u202f919\u2011784\u20114210.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Businesses interested in hosting can request a Rex Mobile Mammography Unit\u00a0site visit<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nearly a quarter of women ages 50-74 had not received an annual mammogram in at least two years,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[275],"tags":[4139,18,135,475,474,19,17,167248,1525,12000],"class_list":["post-470073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-breast-cancer","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mammogram","tag-women","tag-womens-health"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116523848752972667","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}