Community Outreach
Mammography Van
Van Fact Sheet
Boston's Mammography Van launched in May 2002 as a joint venture between the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the City of Boston. It is the only mobile mammography van in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Learn more about the Boston Public Health Commission's breast cancer programs
- The Van seeks to reduce breast cancer morbidity and mortality, improve access to quality care, and address health disparities experienced by women of racial, ethnic and other minority populations in the City of Boston.
- Mammography screenings are performed by skilled, licensed technologists and films are interpreted by Board-certified radiologists both clinicians from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute with extensive experience dedicated to mammography. Only 6 percent of patients screened on the Van receive a recommendation for breast follow-up; patients receive follow-up at the hospital of their choice.
- The Mammography Van serves all women in the City of Boston, regardless of ability to pay.
- The Van is out in the community 3-4 days per week, serving on average 30 women per day, 350 per month, and 4,000 per year.
- Since program inception in May 2002, the Van has provided more than 18,000 mammograms to more than 10,000 individual women in the City of Boston and surrounding towns.
- In 2007, 40 percent of Van patients were new and 60 percent had had a previous mammogram on the Van. Of those who returned to the Van for their annual mammogram, 75 percent returned on a "timely" (annual) basis.
- The priority populations served by the Van are low-income, elderly, uninsured and medically underserved women who are least likely to get a mammogram otherwise.
- More than 50 percent of women seen on the Van speak a first language other than English, more than 50 percent are uninsured, and more than 90 percent are of ethnic minority background.
- The Van was on the road 138 days over the past year, providing breast cancer screening and educational services to 4,000 women at approximately 25 different community sites, such as: neighborhood health centers, low-income housing developments, faith-based organizations, homeless shelters, and a women's prison.
- For more information on Boston's Mammography Van, please call Dana-Farber at (617) 632-1974.
- For breast cancer facts and figures, please call the American Cancer Society at (800) ACS-2345 or visit their Web site.
- For information on the Women's Health Network, providing free breast and cervical cancer screening to uninsured, low-income women, please call the Mass Dept of Public Health at (877) 414-4447 or visit their Web site.
- Boston's Mammography Van possesses a valid license and certificate of inspection issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.