May 05, 2008

News Release

Adventist HealthCare Awarded Avon Foundation Grant to Expand Breast Cancer Programs

$500,000 grant to expand reach of community Breast Cancer Screening Programs at Shady Grove Adventist and Washington Adventist Hospitals

Rockville, Md. - Adventist HealthCare has been awarded a $500,000 grant over two years to fund the Adventist HealthCare Navigate to Health Program designed to ensure the most vulnerable populations in the Washington metropolitan area are not lost unnecessarily to breast cancer.

The funding will allow Adventist HealthCare’s two acute-care hospitals in Maryland, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville and Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, to reduce the number of patients who do not seek care for this deadly, yet manageable disease. The Navigate to Health Program will expand breast health outreach, education, and advanced technology services to low-income, uninsured and underinsured women ages 18-65+ in Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Frederick counties. More than 5,200 women are expected to participate in the program over the next two years.

“We’re excited that these additional resources will allow us to expand our successful breast screening programs to reach more medically underserved women in our communities,” said Debra Pollak, Executive Director for Cancer Care Services for Adventist HealthCare. “The outreach and education program, patient navigation program, and the best screening technologies available will mean better access for this population and earlier breast cancer detection in many cases. We hope that by increasing screenings and early detection, this program will improve breast cancer survival rates for underserved women in our communities.”

The grant was one of several announced at the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Washington, DC on May 4, 2008.  In addition to Adventist HealthCare, the grants were awarded to The Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium, Johns Hopkins Medical Center and University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland, Capital Breast Care Center and George Washington University in Washington, DC and Friends of Cancer Research in Arlington, Virginia.

Adventist HealthCare , an integrated health care delivery organization based in Rockville, Maryland, is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland.  The mission of Adventist HealthCare is to demonstrate God’s care by improving the health of people and communities through a ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing. Adventist HealthCare includes Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, Washington Adventist Hospital, Potomac Ridge Behavioral Health, Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland, Adventist Senior Living Services, Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, Adventist Home Health Services, the Reginald S. Lourie Center for Children and Infants and LifeWork Strategies.