Red Rose Receives $25,000 Grant from Avon Breast Health

The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program has awarded a $25,000 one-year grant to St. Rose Dominican Hospitals' R.E.D. (Responsible Early Detection) Rose Program to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early detection of breast cancer through annual mammogram screenings.

It is the third year that the program has received funding from the Avon Foundation for Women to support its work on this important health issue and in recognition of the program’s excellence.

The R.E.D. Rose Program at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals educates the community on breast cancer awareness and refers women and men under 49 who lack adequate health care coverage or the financial means to pay, the following services: free clinical breast exams, mammograms, ultrasounds, surgical consultations and biopsies. The program also provides information and referrals as well as financial assistance to those undergoing treatment.

“We are proud that the Avon Foundation for Women shares our mission and has chosen to support our R.E.D. Rose Program again this year. With these funds, not only will we be able to provide education on breast cancer awareness, we will provide 380 mammograms and nearly 300 clinical breast exams this year,” says Rod Davis, president/CEO of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals and senior vice president of operations, Dignity Health Nevada.

Since January 2006, the R.E.D. Rose Program has provided nearly 827 clinical breast exams, more than 1,500 mammograms, nearly 1,238 breast ultrasounds, and more than 344 biopsies to the uninsured women in our community.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the United States and the leading single cause of death overall in women between the ages of 40 and 55. According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 227,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be detected in the United States this year and nearly 40,000 lives will be lost. Nationwide, there is a new diagnosis every three minutes and a death from breast cancer every 14 minutes.

While advances have been made in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure, early detection still affords the best opportunity for successful treatment. Programs such as the R.E.D. Rose Program at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals help ensure that all women have access to early detection information and options, even poor and medically underserved women.

Since 1993, the Avon Foundation has awarded more than 1,550 grants to community-based breast health programs across the United States, including the R.E.D. Rose Program at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals. These programs are dedicated to educating underserved women about breast cancer and linking them to early detection screening services.