Horses & Hope Cancer Screening Van

Representatives from KentuckyOne Health, University of Louisville Hospital, James Graham Brown Center and the Louisville Metro Council welcomed the new Horses and Hope mobile cancer screening unit on its inaugural first stop yesterday.  The unit will provide free or significantly reduced cost cancer screenings to underserved populations in the Louisville region.  

“We are taking the fight against cancer on the road and into our neighborhoods,” said Ken Marshall, University of Louisville Hospital President, part of KentuckyOne Health.  “The Horses and Hope Mobile Cancer Screening Unit breaks down barriers to access health care and helps deliver wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved.”

“The Metro Council is excited to continue our work to bring cancer screenings to our districts. The new Horses and Hope Mobile Cancer Screening Unit will bring screenings for seven types of cancer right to people’s neighborhoods throughout the year. I am thankful for the leaders at KentuckyOne Health and my council colleagues for joining this worthwhile endeavor aimed at improving our community’s health.” – Councilwoman Angela Leet, District 7

The Horses for Hope Cancer Screening Unit is the result of a partnership between the University of Louisville’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center and KentuckyOne Health to raise more than $1 million in private donations to pay for the new unit. The unit will focus on educating people in the Louisville region about cancer prevention and eventually offer screenings for seven types of cancer types: breast, cervical, colon, lung, prostate, skin as well as head and neck.

“Partnering with KentuckyOne to allow mobile screenings for cancer is a partnership that can save lives.  By going to underserved neighborhoods and finding those individuals that would otherwise not have a screening is life changing.  Early detection is so important in beating cancer.” – Councilwoman Marianne Butler, District 15

The custom-built cancer screening unit is 40 feet in length, with an exterior design featuring a Horses and Hope theme and acknowledgment of project partners and sponsors.  

The interior includes a reception area with monitors for educational videos, patient changing rooms, a patient examination room, digital mammography equipment, space for supportive laboratory services and a passenger cab area. A motorized retractable awning on the outside of the coach will provide expanded space for patient reception, registration and education.

“For more than 25 years, the James Graham Brown Cancer Center has demonstrated the success of mobile cancer screening,” said Donald M. Miller, MD, PhD, director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center. “Our mobile mammography program has provided thousands of breast cancer screenings in local communities across the Commonwealth and made an impact on the fight against cancer. The Horses and Hope screening van provides additional reach across Kentucky and ability to screen for a range of additional cancers.”

The mobile unit started its service to the community yesterday, operating in front of City Hall between the hours of 10am and 3pm.  The unit is scheduled to serve the Highview, Okolona, Newburg, Lyles Mall and Churchill Downs areas in the coming months. Services and screenings will be delivered through the James Graham Brown Cancer Center that has a Nationally Accredited Breast Center licensed by the American College of Radiology, KentuckyOne Health and supported by the Kentucky Cancer Program.

Twenty four members of the Metro Council stepped up to support the Cancer Screening Unit’s operations in 2016. Those persons contributing Neighborhood Development Funds include: Angela Leet (R-7), Marianne Butler (D-15), Rick Blackwell (D-12), Vicki Aubrey Welch (D-13), Kelly Downard (R-16), Glen Stuckel (R-17), Stuart Benson (R-20), Robin Engel (R-22), Madonna Flood (D-24), David Yates (D-25), Barbara Shanklin (D-2), David Tandy (D-4), David James (D-6), Bill Hollander (D-9), Kevin Kramer (R-11), Steve Magre (Fmr. D-10), Julie Denton (R-19), James Peden (R-23), Jessica Green (D-1), Cheri Bryant Hamilton (D-5), Tom Owen (D-8), Marilyn Parker (R-18), Dan Johnson (D-21) and Mary C. Woolridge (D-3).

About the Kentucky Cancer Program: The Kentucky Cancer Program is the state mandated cancer control program jointly administered by the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville and the Lucille Parker Markey Cancer Center at the University of Kentucky.  The mission of the Kentucky Cancer Program is to reduce cancer incidence and mortality by promoting cancer education, research and service.  For more information, visit their website, www.kycancerprogram.org or call 502-852-6318.

About the James Graham Brown Cancer Center: The James Graham Brown Cancer Center is a key component of the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center. As part of the region's leading academic, research and teaching health center, the cancer center provides the latest medical advances to patients, often long before they become available in non-teaching settings. The JGBCC is a part of KentuckyOne Health and is affiliated with the Kentucky Cancer Program. It is the only cancer center in the region to use a unified approach to cancer care, with multidisciplinary teams of physicians working together to guide patients through diagnosis, treatment and recovery. For more information, visit their web site, www.browncancercenter.org.

About KentuckyOne Health: KentuckyOne Health, the largest and most comprehensive health system in the Commonwealth, has more than 200 locations including hospitals, physician groups, clinics, primary care centers, specialty institutes and home health agencies in Kentucky and southern Indiana. KentuckyOne Health is dedicated to bringing wellness, healing and hope to all, including the underserved. The system is made up of the former Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System, along with the University of Louisville Hospital and James Graham Brown Cancer Center. KentuckyOne Health is proud of and strengthened by its Catholic, Jewish and academic heritages.