October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which means a lot to the Vancouver Clinic as staff have served north Clark County’s residents with 2,348 mammogram screenings and counting since April, when the mammography machines were installed at the facility.
Breast cancer is the No. 2-leading cause for mortality amongst women, Dr. Eric Doerfler, a family medicine physician at the Battle Ground clinic, said. One in eight women will get breast cancer in their lifetime.
“Obviously, that’s going to affect a lot of ladies over their lifetime, so we want to be able to screen them and help catch this early and change the course of that disease for those ladies,” Doerfler said. “The No. 1 thing is mammography, and doing imaging is actually even more accurate than women and/or clinicians doing a breast exam. … And so we want to make that readily available to our community. That’s why we think it’s so important to have that out here in Battle Ground.”
Doerfler said women should generally start getting annual screenings around the age of 40.
Doerfler was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Battle Ground clinic has performed over 2,000 mammogram screenings since the technology was installed this spring.
“That means that the service was absolutely needed out here and the women are willing to,” Doerfler said. “To me that means the women are going to access it more. You know, the easier you make something, the more likely people are going to do that screening process that we recommend.”
Screenings are performed five days a week at Vancouver Clinic’s Battle Ground, 2005 W. Main St. Diagnostics and other services are performed at the Breast Care Center at 700 N.E. 87th Ave. in Vancouver, said Debra Hampson, manager of Breast Care Services for Vancouver Clinic.
“So our main focus here, like I said, is to alleviate some backlog at the other satellites and to [provide] better access, especially to the Battle Ground area and north patients coming in,” Hampson said. “We really push for our patients to come in on a yearly basis.”
Hampson stressed the importance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“It’s a huge deal. It’s what we do every day,” Hampson said, adding, if women have not had positive experiences in the past, she hopes Breast Cancer Awareness Month will encourage them to come in and try it again. “Because, inevitably, you hate to see the women have a bad experience and then not come for their regular screenings every year.”
The process for getting a screening is quite easy, Doerfler said. People should call Vancouver Clinic and say they need a mammogram screening, and after a few questions regarding insurance, the mammogram will be scheduled.
If a radiologist reviews the mammogram results and determines the patient needs additional imaging, they don’t have to go back to a primary care doctor, the followup can be scheduled with no delay, Doerfler explained.
Following the additional mammogram and ultrasound, if a lump or mass is found, a biopsy will be scheduled with a specialist at that time.
“So that cascade of events to get the care that the patient needs for any breast abnormal finding on the mammography will just start to happen,” Doerfler said.
The Vancouver Clinic has screening locations available at its satellite offices in Battle Ground, Columbia Tech Center, 87th Avenue and Salmon Creek One.
Patients can schedule by going to tvc.org/services/breast-care-center. They can also use their MyChart or call 360-882-2778 to schedule a mammogram.
For more information about Vancouver Clinic’s Breast Care Center, visit tvc.org/services/breast-care-center/.
