The Denver Health Foundation recently received a $125,000 grant from the Avon Foundation for Women to be used in its Women's Mobile Mammography Unit. The grant will ensure that Denver Health's mammography service is fully digitized, thereby increasing access by more than 1,800 additional appointments. In 2009, more than 8,000 mammograms were performed at Denver Health.
Digital mammography results in lower radiation exposure to patients and higher sensitivity in detecting breast abnormalities. Digital mammography allows for quicker patient examinations and lower call-back rates for repeat mammograms because of improved processing of images.
Denver Health was one of nine grantees and received the award at the conclusion of the Avon Walk Rocky Mountain held in Breckenridge on June 27. The walk was part of the Avon Foundation's Walk for Breast Cancer series, which raised more than $2.5 million to improve access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer.