Researcher: Patricia Burns (Project Director) – Ian Thompson, Jr. (Lead Collaborator) 

Project Title: Mobile Mammography Vehicle Replacement 

Hospital Affiliation: Friends of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Foundation 
Location: San Antonio, TX 
Year Funded: 2021  

Summary: 

The CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Mobile Mammography Unit (MMU) serves Bexar County and surrounding Texas counties to give women access to one of the most impactful health screening for women – a mammogram – regardless of their ability to pay. 

Grant funding will be used to purchase of a new mobile unit. The new coach has been designed to accommodate patients before, during, and after their mammogram. From clothes changing areas to an area for patient counselling to a wheel chair lift, the Mobile Mammography Unit team has made patient accessibility, comfort and care a priority.  

Project Details: 

Each day, the CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Mobile Mammography Unit (MMU) serves 20-25 women with breast health screenings. Each week, the MMU travels 200-300 miles throughout Bexar County and surrounding Texas counties giving women access to one of the most impactful health screening for women – a mammogram – regardless of their ability to pay.  

Grant funding will be used to purchase of a new mobile unit. The new coach has been designed to accommodate patients before, during, and after their mammogram. From clothes changing areas to an area for patient counselling to a wheel chair lift, the Mobile Mammography Unit team has made patient accessibility, comfort and care a priority.  

The MMU maintains and actively seeks new relationships with community organizations and places of business to provide easily accessible mammography services to women in the community with barriers to health care. We regularly collaborate with local, trusted organizations and businesses such as Centro Med Clinics, YWCA – San Antonio and WellMed Clinics to provide mammograms and breast health education to women in San Antonio and beyond. Important to this mission is the provision of care to regions outside of Bexar County (San Antonio) where mammographic services are uncommon and where there are higher rates of women without health insurance.  

The MMU Program brings together breast health education, breast health public awareness and patient navigation for any woman seeking screenings and care. Through our free patient navigation program, available to every patient on the MMU, the Certified Breast Health Patient Navigator serves as a resource for the underserved women we care for as they enter the continuum of care. The availability of a patient navigator makes it possible for the client to have a personal relationship and trusted resource thus eliminating barriers that would normally make it difficult for a woman, especially those who are underserved, to follow through and follow-up with their breast health program. As the only private, nonprofit health care system in our community, the MMU and our Women’s Breast Health Navigation Program is often the only place for any woman, regardless of her ability to pay and/or to access care.