Health officials with the Lawton Community Health Center are working to get people caught up on their cancer screenings.
Dr. Daniel Joyce, the associate medical director of LCHC, says their data shows that there are 15,000 people behind on their cancer screenings.
“Simply put, I have more patients now with cancer than I’ve ever had in my practice mainly because of lost over COVID. Whether they were afraid to come in to be seen because of COVID or their procedures were canceled because of COVID,” Joyce said.
Joyce says screenings for breast cancer are recommended starting at age 40. As for colon cancer screenings, they’ve lowered the screening age down to 45. Cervical cancer screenings start when a woman reaches 24 years old.
“Those are very important to be keeping up with, because unfortunately, we have too much in our community right now,” Joyce stated.
LCHC recently got a grant to help them identify patients who are behind on their screenings and help guide them on setting them up.
“This is our way of being proactive and capturing these patients and trying to do what’s right because if we can save them from breast cancer,” said Joyce. “We can save them from cervical cancer, that’s a huge thing and a win-win for the community.”
Not only are they going to be making sure people are getting their annual screenings, but they’re also going to be calling patients to make sure they get a follow-up if needed.
“We’re tracking the ones that were abnormal, and trying to make sure that we’re getting them scheduled to get their preventive things,” Joyce said.
“It’s so important,” he continued. “If we can save a life, it’s huge by doing these basic things.”
Dr. Joyce says if you’re a patient at LCHC and are behind on your screenings, that you should expect a call. If you’d like to call to schedule an appointment, you can call LCHC using the following number.
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