The Women’s Wellness Connection urges women ages 40 and older to talk with their doctors during 
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October about screening for breast cancer. Women who can’t afford mammograms may be eligible for a free screening from a local health care provider.
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Colorado among females, killing about 600 women annually, according to the American Cancer Society. Breast cancer is most treatable when it is detected early.
The Women’s Wellness Connection offers free breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income women ages 40 to 64 years through 45 community providers statewide. The Women’s Wellness Connection has served Colorado’s low-income, uninsured women for 25 years, with almost 31 percent of its almost $6.5 million budget coming from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Women's Wellness Connection has made pap tests and mammograms accessible and free for all eligible women,” said Emily Kinsella of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “Breast Cancer Awareness Month is the perfect time to get screened."
Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center can connect eligible women in the area to local providers who provide the free screens. Contact HRRMC Community Health Worker Brenda Gentile at (719) 207-2088.
Gentile will also provide Women’s Wellness Connection information at the HRRMC Women’s Health Day on Oct. 20 at the SteamPlant Event Center, 220 W. Sackett Ave., Salida.
“Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a good time to remind the women in our lives to get screened,” said HRRMC Foundation Director Kimla Robinson. “We are proud to work with the Women’s Wellness Connection to offer free mammograms and pap tests to women who need them but can’t afford them.”
For more information on where to find a provider, visit womenswellnessconnection.org or call 1-866-951-WELL. For more information on National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, visit https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month.
