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New Haven, CT (Nov. 22, 2021) – Today, Yale New Haven Hospital announced that the Bank of America awarded a $50,000 grant to the hospital to support a new mobile healthcare van that will provide education and mammogram services to Latina women living in New Haven.

The goal of the program is to reduce breast cancer health disparities in at-risk populations. The objective is to provide culturally-competent targeted education about breast health and promote mammography screening to limited English proficient Latina women. According to Yale New Haven Hospital’s Language Services Department, qualified interpreters provided 416,188 Spanish speaking patients with assistance in 2019 pre-COVID.

The 36' van consists of a reception area with face recognition temperature check and plexi-glass for safety and seating for social distancing. One room contains the 3-D Mammography (breast tomosynthesis) unit, a technology that allows examinations of breast tissue one layer at a time. A second room has a breast ultrasound imaging unit. The van is equipped with the newest software that allows imaging transmittal to radiologists' workstations for interpretation in real-time. Patients enrolled in My Chart get results in less than 24 - 48 hours.

“Since the onset of the health crisis, there have been prolonged delays and decreased access to breast cancer screenings, particularly among women already experiencing health inequities,” said Carol Heller, market executive, Bank of America Southern Connecticut. “Yale New Haven Health’s new mobile van program will reach women in communities who might not be able to access the critical services they need to detect breast cancer. We hope this project will help save lives in the New Haven region.”

New Haven is the most racially diverse city in the state. As a welcoming city, the number of immigrants living in Greater New Haven doubled since 2000, with a disproportionate share residing in New Haven.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yale New Haven Hospital rescheduled 18,000 mammography screenings. In October 2020, the hospital purchased a new breast imaging van, with support from the YNHH Auxiliary. The van helped to drastically reduce the backlog. “We are very thankful to the Bank of America. Their support of this important program will enable Yale New Haven Hospital to fill a gap in service by bringing bilingual care to vulnerable communities,” said Vin Petrini, SVP, chief policy and communications officer, Yale New Haven Health.

For more information call Jacqueline Crenshaw, senior manager, Breast Imaging at 203-200-1550.

Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH), part of Yale New Haven Health, is a nationally recognized, 1,541-bed, not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Medicine (YSM). Founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the U.S. in 1826, today, YNHH has two New Haven-based campuses, and also includes Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital and Smilow Cancer Hospital. YNHH has received Magnet designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the nation’s highest honor of nursing excellence. YNHH has a combined medical staff of about 4,500 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties. www.ynhh.org