TRI-LAKES AREA — Kathy Davidson said she expects to attract a lot of attention when she drives the new 40-foot-long, brightly colored Mercy Mobile Health Services van into town.
The radiology technician added that she knows she will attract some more attention when, at only 4 feet 11 inches tall, she slides down from the driver’s seat of the massive vehicle.
“It always surprises people when they see me,” said Davidson, who has a commercial driver’s license as well as her certification in mammography. “I’ve heard lots of jokes about my size and the size of the truck, but I never let it bother me. We’re in town to provide a needed service that saves lives.”
Davidson is one of two radiology techs who make up the crew of the health services van that was just delivered to Mercy Hot Springs Medical Center (formally St.Joseph’s Mercy) and went on its first run to Amity on Tuesday.
Along with driving the vehicle, she handles patient records and operates the state-of the-art digital mammography equipment. The mobile unit is the same as the one used in the Mercy Women’s Center in Hot Springs. Slide-outs expand the patient waiting area, and the imaging suite is a separate room with a private changing area. The vehicle also offers a wheelchair lift.
“Today, after more than two years, our plans have come to fruition to put mobile digital mammography back on the roads in our five-county service area,” said Tim Johnsen, president of Mercy Hot Springs. “We can again bring care closer to home and help women who seek out having a mammogram. That will ultimately save lives, and that’s what we’re all about.”
Mercy Hot Springs had operated a mammography van with an X-ray machine on board, but it was decommissioned two years ago.
“The equipment was antiquated and failing quality control tests, so we could not continue to put it on the road,” Johnsen said.
The new vehicle is one of only five mobile mammography units in the state and the only unit to serve Garland, Saline, Clark, Montgomery and Pike counties. The van will also visit Hot Spring County.
The big truck/medical facility cost about $700,000 and was ordered last October after a two-year fundraising effort by the St. Joseph’s Mercy Health Foundation. The Mercy Hot Springs Volunteers pledged $300,000 to the project, and a $25,000 donation was received from the Olds Foundation in Amity.
“The van has been a community effort with funds from the foundation, volunteers and co-workers,” said Marsha Oliver, operations manager for Women’s Services at Mercy Hot Springs. “They knew that we had this great need, and they wanted to make sure that we met that.”
“Mammography rates are extremely low in Arkansas, and providing this service will help get women to mammograms,” Johnsen said.
The American Cancer Society has estimated that 1,820 women in Arkansas will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and 410 will die of the disease.
Between 80 and 90 percent of all breast cancers in women can be found with mammography, even before any symptoms appear. When found and contained in the first stage, there is a 98 percent survival rate, according to information released by Mercy Hot Springs.
Debbie Gregor of Royal knows the value of having access to mammograms near home. A visit to the old mobile unit led to the detection of her breast cancer at an early stage.
“They said the cancer was in a duct, and without the mammogram, I would not have been able to discover it until it was too late,” she said.
“Had it not been for the mobile in town that day when I went, I might not be here now.”
Teresa Lambert, an oncology nurse and executive director of outpatient services with Mercy Hot Springs, said as many as 1,000 women will receive cancer-screening mammograms in the first year the health services van is on the road.
“We will try to have the van on the road about three days a week,” she said. “We will be going to area schools to catch the teachers before school, then to community centers and the Mercy Clinics we have in the region.”
Lambert said Mercy patients should call about two to four weeks out to make an appointment, but that they should also check to see if there is an open time if the vehicle is in their community.
For an appointment or more information, call Mercy outpatient services at (501) 622-2174.
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbryan@arkansasonline.com.
Tri-Lakes, Pages 131 on 07/29/2012