Mammograms fight breast cancer across Northeast Wisconsin

Northeast Wisconsin – During October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Prevea Health and its HSHS hospital partners remind everyone about the importance of breast health and breast screenings.

All women should talk with their health care provider about the appropriate timing for screening mammograms, especially women who are age 40 or at high-risk. A schedule will be based upon an individual’s health. At age 40, any woman may wish to begin regular screening mammograms. By age 45, women should have a screening mammogram and continue to have one at least every other year. 

Prevea provides in-clinic mammography services at three locations in the Green Bay area: Prevea St. Mary’s Health Center, Prevea Allouez Health Center and Prevea East De Pere Health Center. In 2018, to make mammograms more accessible to women across Northeast Wisconsin and eliminate travel as a barrier– especially for those in rural communities – Prevea Health launched a 3-D and digital, mobile mammography unit in partnership with HSHS St. Vincent, St. Mary’s, St. Nicholas and St. Clare Memorial Hospitals.

Today, the unit travels on a regular basis to Prevea Health centers in Grand Chute, Kewaunee, Luxemburg, Manitowoc, Marinette, Oconto, Oconto Falls, Plymouth, Pulaski, Seymour, Shawano, Gillett, Lena and Mountain. Since 2018, the Prevea Health + HSHS St. Vincent, St. Mary’s, St. Nicholas and St. Clare mobile mammography unit has provided more than 5,500 patients in these communities with mammograms. Out of those patients:

• 438 required additional imaging for suspected breast cancer
• 27 were diagnosed with breast cancer
• 390 received a mammogram for the first time
• 73 had not had a mammogram in more than 8 years

“Many of these patients are women who may not have otherwise received a mammogram due to the burden of having to travel to another community far away where services are available,” said Stephanie Rouse, a registered mammography technologist who provides care in the mobile mammography unit.  “Our mobile unit allows us to take these lifesaving breast screenings directly to them. If we can catch cancer early with a mammogram, it is likely more treatable.”

The mobile mammography unit, described as a “health center on wheels,” is equipped with 3-D and digital mammography technology, two changing rooms and a waiting room, and staffed by a registered mammography technologist. Click here for a virtual tour.

Appointments for all mammography services – in-clinic or mobile –  can be made by calling (920) 496-4789 or through MyPrevea at www.myprevea.com or the MyPrevea app. To learn more about Prevea mammography care, please visit: www.prevea.com/mammo

In Sheboygan, mammograms are also provided at HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital. To make an appointment at HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital, please call (920) 459-5171.  

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About HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center

HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center have been delivering quality health care to Green Bay and its surrounding communities since 1888. With HSHS St. Vincent being the largest tertiary care hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s location on Green Bay’s west side, patients from Northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan benefit from a comprehensive range of services that include cancer care, women’s services, emergency and trauma care, preventive care across the lifespan, digestive health, orthopedic, cardiac care, neurosciences, rehabilitation and pediatrics. Affiliates of Hospital Sisters Health System, the hospitals primary purpose is to continue Christ’s healing love through the delivery of competent and compassionate health care in an environment sensitive to the needs of all people. Both hospitals are accredited by The Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

About HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital

HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital has been delivering high quality health care to Sheboygan and its surrounding communities since 1890. HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital provides a comprehensive range of services that include cancer care, women’s services, 24-hour emergency care, digestive health, orthopedics, cardiac, home health and hospice care. The hospital’s primary purpose is to continue Christ’s healing love through the delivery of high quality and compassionate health care in an environment sensitive to the needs of all people. HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.  An affiliate of Hospital Sisters Health System, we draw on the history of St. Francis of Assisi as we move to continue serving the health care needs of our area in Christ’s healing ministry, caring for all people. To learn more, visit www.stnicholashospital.org.

About HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital
HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital serves Oconto Falls and the surrounding communities as a federally designated critical access hospital with a 24-hour emergency department; inpatient and outpatient surgical and diagnostic services; cancer care; therapy and rehabilitation; wound care; the Almost Home Swing Bed program; and more. It was founded as Oconto Falls City Hospital in 1921 and became HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital in 2014 when it joined Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS). As an affiliate of HSHS, HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital draws on the history of St. Francis of Assisi as it serves the health care needs of the region in Christ’s healing ministry, caring for all people. HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital also has five rural health center locations in affiliation with Prevea Health in Gillett, Lena, Mountain, Oconto Falls and Suring; and operates HSHS Pharmacies in Gillett and Oconto Falls, and HSHS Prescription Services (remote dispensing sites) in Lena, Mountain and Pulaski. In 2022, HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital was named a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital in the U.S. by The Chartis Center for Rural Health. For more information about St. Clare, please visit: www.stclarememorial.org.

About Hospital Sisters Health System

Hospital Sisters Health System’s (HSHS) mission is to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love for all people through our high quality, Franciscan health care ministry. HSHS provides state-of-the-art health care to our patients and is dedicated to serving all people, especially the most vulnerable, at each of our 15 Local Systems and physician practices in Illinois (Breese, Decatur, Effingham, Greenville, Highland, Litchfield, O’Fallon, Shelbyville and Springfield) and Wisconsin (Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Oconto Falls, Sheboygan, and two in Green Bay). HSHS is sponsored by Hospital Sisters Ministries. For more information about HSHS, visit www.hshs.org.  For more information about Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, visit www.hospitalsisters.org.

About Prevea Health

Founded in Green Bay, Wis. in 1996, Prevea Health is a health care organization that provides high-quality, primary and specialty health care in 80+ locations across Northern, Eastern and Western Wisconsin in clinic and hospital settings. It is partnered with six Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) hospitals across Wisconsin to provide patients a system of highly-coordinated care, close to home: HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay; HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan; HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls; HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire; and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls. For more information, visit www.prevea.com.