Bonnie’s Bus to offer mammograms in Charleston

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bonnie’s Bus, a 45-foot, state-of-the-art mobile mammography vehicle, will visit Kanawha County this month, offering three-dimensional (3D) digital mammograms and breast care education to women.

A service of WVU Medicine and the WVU Cancer Institute, Bonnie’s Bus will be at the Sissonville Health Center in Charleston from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 18. For an appointment, call 304-984-1576.

The mammograms are billed to private insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare, if available. Mammograms for women who do not have insurance will be covered by the West Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program (WVBCCSP) or through special grant funds from the West Virginia affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. No woman over 40 is turned away due to lack of funding. A physician’s order is needed for a mammogram.

Bonnie’s Bus started in 2009 and has provided more than 16,000 mammograms for women throughout West Virginia. Through this screening, 74 cases of breast cancer have been detected. Many of those screened are under- or uninsured and qualified for screening through the WVBCCSP.

Bonnie’s Bus works in collaboration with a statewide partnership of clinicians, public health professionals, women’s groups, and other community leaders working to help reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer in West Virginia.

Made possible by a generous gift from West Virginia natives Jo and Ben Statler to the Cancer Institute, Bonnie’s Bus is operated in partnership with WVU Hospitals. The bus is named after Jo Statler’s late mother, Bonnie Wells Wilson.

For information on Bonnie’s Bus, see www.wvucancer.org/bonnie.

Attention reporters and editors: If you are interested in covering Bonnie’s Bus when it visits your area, please call Heather Sammons, communications specialist, at 304-285-7256 in advance. Out of respect for patient privacy, please do not show up at the location without scheduling an appropriate time for interviews and/or photos.