{"id":125483,"date":"2025-08-07T05:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T05:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/125483\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T05:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T05:08:09","slug":"penn-launches-mobile-mammogram-clinic-in-effort-to-improve-access-to-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/125483\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn launches mobile mammogram clinic in effort to improve access to care"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"dpm3546\"\/
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tPenn Medicine unveiled their new mobile mammography van on July 13.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Uma Mukhopadhyay<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Penn Medicine launched a mobile mammography clinic during a local community health fair last month to improve early cancer detection and patients\u2019 access to care.\n<\/p>\n

The mobile unit \u2014 launched on July 13<\/a> \u2014 was designed to increase the accessibility of breast cancer screening among women in low-income and rural areas. The van also screens for lung cancer, diabetes, and other health concerns, offering \u201cfree take-home\u201d kits that patients can use on their own.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

Perelman School of Medicine professor Brian Englander \u2014 who specializes in radiology \u2014 first imagined the project in 2018 after researching strategies for expanding access to medicine. In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Englander described the van as an example of \u201cindigenous innovation,\u201d a process he coined for bringing care to patients directly.\n<\/p>\n

\u201c[We] often take for granted having \u2026 access when there are so many wonderful hospitals and institutions that provide it,\u201d Englander added.\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Englander drew inspiration from the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, which he said initially attempted to \u201cset up centralized care\u201d sites before turning to mobile clinics, \u201cchurches, or [other] institutions.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

After an initial pop-up event in North Philadelphia, Englander recognized \u201cthe impact and the demand\u201d of mobile health care, which motivated him \u201cto really push forward with making [the clinic] a reality.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

Englander described the clinic\u2019s primary audience as \u201cpeople who are underserved [and] underinsured,\u201d noting the need for \u201cbasic screening [and] preventative services for women of color, women who don’t speak English, new members of the United States community, immigrants, [and] rural populations that just don\u2019t have access.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

In light of this, people using the mobile mammogram are not required to have health insurance to participate.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will charge their insurance, but [for] patients who don’t have insurance, we will provide free mammography,\u201d Englander said.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf an abnormal result is found on a mammogram or any other screening test, the Penn Medicine team will help connect the individual to appropriate resources and follow-up care,\u201d Penn Med\u2019s announcement explained.\n<\/p>\n

The clinic\u2019s current success relies on both industry and community partners, including medical technology company Siemens Healthineers, along with the Philadelphia-based Church of Christian Compassion.\n<\/p>\n

Linda Nunes, who serves as the vice chair of community health for the Medical School\u2019s radiology department, described the support for the service across Philadelphia as \u201cwonderful.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s] not just the community members who become our patients, but the volunteers from the hospital and our \u2026 industry partners,\u201d Nunes said in an interview with the DP. \u201cEveryone really feels good about what w\u2019’ve been able to accomplish.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Nunes characterized the clinic as part of Penn Med\u2019s broader effort to educate its community members and promote regular cancer screenings.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to actually screening individuals, I think we really have been able to impress upon them the importance of screening and mold their mindset towards getting [a] screening,\u201d she said. \u201cFor example, on the day of the fair, we actually ended up with a waitlist for more individuals wanting to be screened, including some people who are like \u2018I get my screening mammogram here every year now.\u2019\u201d\n\t\t<\/p>\n

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Get our newsletter, DP Daybreak, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.<\/p>\n

Nunes also emphasized the significance of community health fairs as a means of raising awareness. Since the clinic\u2019s debut in West Philadelphia<\/a>, the team has \u201cbroaden[ed] [their] capability to reach a wider distribution of areas\u201d by participating in other fairs throughout the city.\n<\/p>\n

As the project moves forward, Nunes noted a plan to \u201cmaximize [the] impact\u201d of the clinic by collaborating with other \u201ccommunity groups, whether they\u2019re churches, community centers, [or] health centers.\u201d The team has also attempted to strengthen its recruitment process, hire on-site translators, and increase its operating hours.\n<\/p>\n

Englander similarly mentioned his hope for \u201cexpanding\u201d the current effort \u201cto additional vans, additional locations, and additional concepts of providing \u2026 care on the road.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation<\/a> to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.<\/p>\n

Donate<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penn Medicine unveiled their new mobile mammography van on July 13. Credit: Uma Mukhopadhyay Penn Medicine launched a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":125484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,8433,45738,50,1448,41929,2830,1311,1399,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,45998],"class_list":{"0":"post-125483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-app-top-news","10":"tag-general-assignment","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pa","13":"tag-penn-medicine","14":"tag-pennsylvania","15":"tag-philadelphia","16":"tag-top","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa","23":"tag-west-philly"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}