CVS Health grant funds Texas "See, Test & Treat" cancer screening program
NORTHFIELD, Ill. - The CAP Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the College of American Pathologists, is expanding its flagship "See, Test & Treat" cancer screening program in the state of Texas, supported by a grant from CVS Health, the organization announced Thursday.
"See, Test & Treat removes the barriers that prevent underserved women from receiving vital cancer screenings," stated Jennifer Laudadio, president CAP Foundation Board. "CVS Health has recognized that the See, Test & Treat programs play an important role in making sure no woman is left behind in cancer screening and connection to follow-up health care."
"As a pharmacy innovation company, we are committed to helping people on their path to better health," added Eileen Howard Boone, SVP corporate social responsibility and philanthropy, CVS Health. "We are proud to support the CAP Foundation as they work to increase access to quality health care for underserved populations and improve women's health."
The Foundation is holding three See, Test & Treat programs in the Houston area in October, providing life-saving mammograms and Pap tests with same-day results and follow-up care along with other community tailored health services for uninsured women.
The first program was held at Lone Star Family Health Center on Oct. 1, at which nearly 100 women received screenings and education. Funding from CVS Health was instrumental in Lone Star Family Health Center's See, Test & Treat event, which was led by Kyle Eskue, a CAP member pathologist and targeted underserved women of Hispanic and Caucasian ethnicity.
The next two Texas programs will be at Sunnyside Health Center on Oct. 8 and at the UT Physicians Bayshore Family Practice Center on Oct. 29. Hologic is providing in-kind donations of ThinPrep Pap tests while CooperSurgical donated a LEEP workstation and supplies.
Donna Coffey and Patricia Chevez-Barrios, pathologists at Houston Methodist Hospital will lead a See, Test & Treat program at Sunnyside Health Center focusing on African American women. CAP Foundation Board director Sonia Carol Robazetti will coordinate the program while CAP Foundation director Joseph Lucci, a gynecologic oncologist at UT Health, Houston will serve as the OBGYN lead.
The third program led by CAP member pathologist Jing Liu will be held at UT Physicians Bayshore Multispecialty Clinic. Robazetti will serve as program organizer, bringing her experience to help benefit two Texas See, Test & Treat programs this fall.
See, Test & Treat has served uninsured women in Texas since 2012. In 2015 alone the program delivered cancer screenings to nearly 300 women. In one Texas program, 18% of the women receiving mammograms showed abnormal results. Pap test findings were as high as 11% in another program. All programs returned abnormal HPV results. As part of each program, participating hospitals and health centers provide necessary follow-up testing and treatment.
Each See, Test & Treat program provides free screenings, same day test results, follow-up care and health education counseling for medically at-risk populations faced with financial, linguistic, social, and cultural barriers to health care.
Breast cancer is expected to take the lives of nearly 3,000 women in Texas this year and cervical cancer will account for close to 400 deaths, according to the Texas Cancer Registry. Support from CVS Health is particularly important because Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the third highest rate of cervical cancer among the states.