Local Resources

These projects have been selected by our independent Grant Review Panel as those that will have the greatest impact in serving uninsured or underinsured women in our service area. Please note that Susan G. Komen® is not a direct service provider. If you would like more information about any of our Grantees, please contact our office at 912-232-2535 or email us at: info@komencoastalgeorgia.org.

2015 Grantees 

Bulloch County Board of Health:

The Komen grant funding will be used by Bulloch County Health Department for "Bulloch's Breast Brigade".  Services included in this program are clinical breast exams, mammograms, diagnostic testing for women under 40 whose screening outcome is abnormal, referrals for treatment, education and transportation.  These services will be offered to women who are underinsured or have no health insurance and are a Bulloch County resident. Rural areas typically have lower rates of breast and mammography screenings.  Due to these circumstances, cancer is diagnosed in the later stages.  It is the goal of Bulloch County Health Department and the Southeast Health District to increase early screening/detection and decrease late stage breast cancer diagnosis.  Population-based approaches such as public education, community outreach, patient navigation and quality assurance will be used to increase screening and reach our underserved populations. Bulloch's Breast Brigade will pair the screening services with information and annual screening reminders sent by the Bulloch County Health Department, strengthening the importance of breast exams throughout the community.  Evaluation methods will include patient surveys and tracking of diagnostic services through the data base system.

Coastal Health District:

The Breast and Cervical Cancer program (BCCP) has a 20+ year history of providing breast cancer screening and diagnostic services to low-income underinsured or uninsured women. Funding has decreased in recent years creating a backlog of clients needing services. No funding exists for uninsured and underinsured men with abnormal clinical findings and limited funds exist for women under 40 with breast concerns and women with incomes between 200-250% of federal poverty guidelines. We propose increasing screening funds for BCCP eligible patients and creating a diagnostic fund for BCCP excluded patients. The counties included in this project are Chatham, Bryan, and Effingham, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Camden, and Glynn. Proposed screening services include 150 clinical breast exams at health department facilities and 150 bilateral screening mammograms at certified mammography providers (contracted) for BCCP eligible patients. Proposed diagnostic services for BCCP excluded clients include 90 diagnostic mammograms, 60 ultrasounds, and 10 biopsies at certified mammography providers (contracted). Evaluation is based on goals versus actual screening. The proposed project will bring additional breast cancer screening capability for women in the community and will create a funding source to diagnose men with abnormal clinical findings.

Curtis V. Cooper PHC:

Curtis V. Cooper Primary Health Care, Inc. is requesting $60,000 which will be utilized solely to provide screening mammograms for 400 of CVCPHC’s approximately 5,000 active medically under-served and uninsured women that require this critical service. Currently there are more than 400 uninsured women waiting for appointments. This will contribute to CVCPHC's overall ability for early detection, awareness, accessibility, and most importantly, positive patient outcomes, and will augment CVCPHC's mission and enhance our ability to provide high quality, affordable, accessible health screening services to all residents of Savannah and Chatham County. CVCPHC’s collaborating partner South Coast Imaging Center will assist in the tracking of patients and appointments, results of screening, and provide additional diagnostic tests (diagnostic mammograms, biopsies etc.) as warranted for the under-served patients (no additional charge) to ensure that appropriate treatment can be obtained if warranted. CVCPHC’s X-Ray department also tracks all studies to completion using logs and spreadsheets. We expect this project to result in 400 screening, 15 diagnostic mammograms, 10 biopsies, and 5 positive early detection of breast cancer, thus reducing morbidity and mortality. Our Providers continue to provide clinical breast exams and breast health education to all women. No Komen funds will be used towards salaries, materials, or administrative costs, all of which will be borne by CVCPHC.

Hearts and Hands Clinic:

Hearts and Hands Clinic has developed Hearts and Hands for Mammograms to decrease the ethnic and socio-economic disparity that exists in the stages of breast cancer diagnosis between low-income, uninsured and often minority women and those falling outside of that description. Research proves that an unsettling gap exists, and that African American women are diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer more often than most other ethnic groups. As an organization committed to improving health outcomes for the uninsured and low-income in Bulloch County, Hearts and Hands recognizes that mammography services must be available to this population. Hearts and Hands will provide mammograms to 125 people in our target audience, 50% of whom will be of African American descent. We will accomplish this through outreach, organization, scheduling and follow-up and through surveys, educational workshops, one-on-one educational sessions, and data tracking. These activities will be performed collaboratively by the Project Coordinator, Intern, and Director. The Director will evaluate progress on a monthly basis to ensure effectiveness and will work with the Coordinator and Intern to strengthen the program.

Liberty County Health Department:

The BRAVE (Be Readily Available And Very Empathetic) III Project is a continuation project that has successfully combined components of two previously funded BRAVE Projects--The BRAVE Breast Cancer Project in Liberty County and the Breast Care Latina Project in Long County. Combining these grants have maximized funding, eliminated redundancy and enhanced the project's outcomes as these counties face similar challenges. BRAVE III supports Liberty and Long Counties and it targets African American Women in non-metropolitan areas of Liberty County and Latina Women in Long County. The project provides breast health education that puts emphasis on women knowing what is normal for the individual, clinical breast exams, screening mammograms, diagnostic services for women with abnormal clinical breast exam or screening mammogram results and Client Navigator service that provides interpreter service, supportive care and linkage to available community resources. Access to care issues, is addressed by the use of mobile and weekend mammography outreach events. As well, educational outreach events are held in African American churches in non-metropolitan areas in Liberty County in Hispanic churches in Long County as well as grocery stores, festivals and venues frequented by women in our target populations. The number of women screened, the number of women continuing in breast care and the number of women aided with early breast cancer detection will measure the project's impact.

Southeast Georgia Health System:

"Mammograms in Motion" is an endeavor lead by Southeast Georgia Health System and supported by collaboration with numerous community health care organizations that focus on providing care to uninsured and medically underserved individuals. The purpose of the program is to break down barriers for those individuals and increase access to and use of necessary and life-saving breast care screening and diagnostic services. This includes regular WOW visits to rural locations throughout the four-county area to insure that residents do not have to travel far for screening services. The program will provide tracking, navigation, and follow-up for all recipients, and regular communication with providers and community health care leaders. Breast care navigation services focused on preventing gaps in medical care for patients needing breast care beyond a screening mammogram will be provided. This is an especially valuable service for recipients who lack additional resources; ensuring patients are not lost to follow-up, while also reducing the amount of time between services. For qualitative evaluation of the program, statistical and informative data will be reported to leadership and the affiliate and communication with partners will allow the program to monitor impact and effectiveness on the lives of the patients we serve. Throughout this endeavor, we wish to contribute to the health and wellbeing of the community by providing services, resources, and education to those in need.

St. Joseph’s Candler Hospital:

Pathway to Survival: Medical-home Based Breast Cancer Screening to Reduce Breast Cancer Disparities purpose is to improve breast cancer survival outcomes and reduce breast cancer mortality rates among minority African American and Latina people and uninsured people in Coastal Georgia. Key activities to achieve this include provision of breast health promotion within the medical home setting, free mammography screenings, free indicate diagnostic services, and diagnostic navigation to clients of St. Joseph’s/ Candler’s two medical homes, the Good Samaritan Clinic and St. Mary’s Health Center. Both clinics provide free care to uninsured, predominately minority, clients with an income at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level; in the previous 12 months (Nov 2013- Nov 2014) they had over 6,700 clinical visits and provided care to 785 women age 40 or older. Pathway to Survival will reduce breast cancer disparities through implementing The Guide to Community Preventative Services evidence-based client and provider interventions at the medical homes. Evaluation methods include routine program monitoring, process evaluation, and an outcome evaluation to assess the impact of the program on medical home case management and diagnostic navigation services. As a result of the Pathway to Survival Program, underserved women are likely to have greater access to breast health services, mammography screening, and indicated diagnostic services.