UM Shore Medical Center at Chestertown Celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Kent County was celebrated last week with an event at the “pink ribbon tree” at Chestertown’s Memorial Park, attended by a host of Shore Medical Center at Chestertown team members and advocates, including, from left, Chester River Health Foundation Board members Earle Runde, Carol Droge, Sandy Bjork and Bob Roth (chair); Rural Health Care Transformation Director Lara Wilson; Mobile Wellness Team Nurse Manager Emily Welsh, RN; Nelson Goldberg, MD, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon; and Outpatient Imaging Manager Kelly Bottomley.
Team members at University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Chestertown joined forces last week to highlight October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Representatives of The Leh Women’s Center, The Chester River Health Foundation, Rural Health Care Transformation, Radiology, Mobile Wellness and Surgery were on hand for a brief ceremony at the “pink ribbon tree” in Chestertown’s Memorial Park. The tree was chosen and decorated with assistance from the Chestertown Garden Club and the Town of Chestertown.
Event chair Lara Wilson, Director of Rural Health Care Transformation for UM Shore Regional Health, stressed the importance of breast cancer screening. She thanked Chestertown clinical and non-clinical team members and Kent County Health Department staff for working to make sure women in Kent and northern Queen Anne’s counties have access to annual mammograms. She also expressed appreciation for the Chester River Health Foundation’s leadership role in the establishment of the Leh Women’s Center, which provides more than 2,300 mammograms each year; and to the Women & Girls Fund of the Mid-Shore for their $20,000 grant benefitting the Wellness for Women Program, which provides community outreach and financial support to women facing obstacles to affordable breast cancer screening.
Nelson Goldberg, MD, Professor of Surgery at the UM School of Medicine and Plastic Surgeon at University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Chestertown, helps care for patients receiving reconstructive surgery after treatment for breast cancer. He spoke to the group about risks for breast cancer, including increased age, smoking, obesity, alcohol use and aging.
“The bottom line is that one in eight women will get breast cancer, but annual screening can catch the disease early when treatment is likely to be most successful,” he said.
Bob Roth, Chair of the Chester River Health Foundation, which supports UM Shore Regional Health, highlighted the fundraising efforts that made possible the establishment of the Leh Women’s Center’s nearly a decade ago, as well as renovations and equipment purchases in the years since.
Kelly Bottomley, Outpatient Imaging Manager, commended the Leh Women’s Center and Radiology team members who have worked together for the past nine years to provide mammograms.
“I’m proud to say that all of the original team members when the Center opened are still with us, providing exceptional care to our community,” said Bottomley.