Early detection saves lives. We believe no one should lose a mother, a daughter, a sister because of inability to pay for breast cancer screenings. Soroptimist International of Carson City started providing free mammograms to women in our community in 2002. Eligible women are those that are at or below the poverty level and do not have insurance or the financial ability to pay for an annual mammogram, have no implants, have lumps found by a doctor, or have leaking breast or other indicators of breast cancer, or problems detected during an annual mammogram that call for additional screenings. The financial, insurance situation, and need is determined by the clinics that are the providers for this program, among them Carson City Community Health Clinic, Nevada Health Services, Sierra Health Clinics, Dayton Community Nurse, Women’s Health Connection, CTRH Cancer Center and some doctors. Sierra Surgery has been added them to our list of providers as well as their Imaging Center for Mammograms. Tahoe Carson Radiology (formerly Great Basin Imaging and now owned by Carson Tahoe Health) is the other imaging provider.

According to the 2010 census there are approximately 4500-4700 women in Carson City alone that fall within the criteria of this program. As of March 2017, we had provided 1,254 women with 1,427 screening and diagnostic mammograms, as well as breast ultrasounds and 29 biopsies, at an expense of $167,835.77. Procedures have been provided for teenage girls as young as 14, and for women up to 70 years of age, because they had nowhere else to go and needed help. With the economy like it is today, the number and need has increased substantially since the inception of the program.

The money is raised through our annual fundraising golf tournament, the STROKE TO HELP.

Obviously there is a great deal of work involved with this program, but we feel there is no other program more needed in the community or more necessary in saving women’s lives.