Atrium Health Floyd is celebrating a major success in its mission to bring crucial preventative care to rural communities, announcing that its second mobile mammography coach, located in Chattooga County,  has already surpassed its annual goal in just six months of service.

The new unit, which is one of only two operated by Atrium Health Floyd in the region, has provided more than 1,700 screening mammograms to women across mostly rural areas of North Georgia and Northeastern Alabama since its launch, significantly exceeding the initial target.

The achievement was celebrated during a gathering held Monday at the Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Chattooga Emergency Department, where the mobile unit is based.

“Our goal in the first year was to do 1,500,” said Aimee Griffin, vice president of Professional Services at Atrium Health Floyd. “We have crossed 1,700 screening mammograms on the new unit and nine cancers have been diagnosed. Five of those cancers have come from this geographic area.”

The swift identification of these cases underscores the unit’s immediate impact on early detection, particularly in areas where access to specialized medical facilities can be challenging.

Removing Rural Barriers to Care

Atrium Health Floyd President Kurt Stuenkel emphasized the necessity of the mobile coaches in improving public health outcomes.

“Rural communities often face barriers to health care, such as transportation, time constraints and lack of nearby facilities,” Stuenkel noted. “This mobile unit removes those barriers by bringing care directly to where women live and work.”

Stuenkel stressed that the nine cancer diagnoses represent lives saved, cases that likely would have gone undiscovered without the convenience offered by the rolling clinic. “Nine cancer cases may not sound tremendous, but it is to those families,” he added.

Funding for the new coach was secured with the assistance of U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who has focused efforts on expanding access to health care in the state’s rural regions.

“We are very appreciative that Sen. Ossoff has helped us get this funding,” Stuenkel said.

A Decade of Detection

The second coach enhances a program that has been operating robustly for over a decade. Atrium Health Floyd’s first coach has been in service since 2008 and is based at the Harbin Clinic Dr. Tony E. Warren M.D. Cancer Center, home to The Breast Center at Atrium Health Floyd.

Between the two units, the program has achieved significant milestones:

  • Total Travel: 111,000 miles traveled.
  • Total Screenings: 35,000 screenings performed.
  • Total Cancers Detected: 129 cancers diagnosed since 2008.
  • State-of-the-Art Technology and Rapid Results

The mammography coaches are equipped with state-of-the-art digital imaging technology, providing the same high clinical quality and attention found inside The Breast Center. The vehicles feature a small, comfortable waiting area and are staffed by specially trained technologists.

Crucially, the units offer 3D mammography, which is particularly vital for patients with dense breast tissue, offering clearer and more detailed images.

Furthermore, The Breast Center and its mammography coaches are the only facilities in the region that offer the “Know in 24” promise, ensuring women are notified of their screening results within a single day.

For local residents interested in scheduling a screening, appointments can be made by calling The Breast Center at 706-509-6840 or through the MyAtriumHealth service.