The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) today announced the launch of a Mother’s Day public awareness campaign to encourage women over 40 years old to seek an annual mammogram at any HHC hospital, community health centers and mobile mammography van locations on Staten Island.

The citywide campaign will feature multi-language television, print and radio advertising that use HHC doctors and staff and highlight the theme: 1 in every 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. The graphics illustrate this fact by showing a group of eight women with the silhouette of one woman who is missing. The public is urged to call 311 or visit nyc.gov/hhc to learn where they can get the life-saving screenings.

"Mother’s Day is an ideal occasion to remind the women in our lives about the importance of getting screened for breast cancer," said HHC President Alan Aviles. "There is no better way to say ‘I care’ in any language than to help make a screening appointment at little or no cost for your mother, daughter, sister, aunt, girlfriend or grandmother. An annual mammogram is the best method for the early detection of breast cancer and it helps to save lives."

City public hospitals and health centers performed more than 400,000 mammograms since 2003 and nearly 90,000 mammograms during 2007. As a result, significantly more cancers have been diagnosed at an earlier stage when treatment is more effective and prognosis much more hopeful. Additionally, HHC invested nearly $3.5 million during Fiscal Year 2006 to build ten state of the art mammography centers at its hospitals and community health centers.

A woman can have breast cancer even if she has no symptoms and the risk of developing it increases with age. Because mammograms are among the best early detection methods, it is recommended that women over 40 get a mammogram and a breast examination by a doctor every year. According to the American Cancer Society, one woman in eight will develop invasive breast cancer in her lifetime but if detected early the five-year survival rate exceeds 96%. The City Health Department reports breast cancer kills about 1,260 in New York City every year and yet 23% of women 40 and older have not had a recent mammogram.

HHC offers lifesaving mammograms at little or no cost all year long at the following facilities:

Bronx
Segundo Ruiz Belvis Diagnostic and Treatment Center
545 East 142nd Street
(718) 579-4010

Jacobi Medical Center
1400 Pelham Parkway South
(718) 918-4716

Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center
234 East 149th Street
(718) 579-5550

Morrisania Diagnostic and Treatment Center
1225 Gerard Avenue
(718) 960-2710; After 4:00 PM, call (718) 960-2814

North Central Bronx Hospital
3424 Kossuth Avenue
(718) 519-3969

Brooklyn
Coney Island Hospital
2601 Ocean Parkway
(718) 616-4432

Cumberland Diagnostic and Treatment Center
100 North Portland Avenue
(718) 260-7855

East New York Diagnostic and Treatment Center
2094 Pitkin Avenue
(718) 240-0531

Kings County Hospital Center
451 Clarkson Avenue
(718) 245-3267 or (718) 245-3268

Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center
760 Broadway
(718) 388-5889

Manhattan
Bellevue Hospital Center
462 First Avenue
(212) 562-4384

Gouverneur Health Care Services
227 Madison Street
(212) 238-7897 or (212) 238-7997 or (212) 238-7510

Harlem Hospital Center
506 Lenox Avenue
(212) 939-8060

Metropolitan Hospital Center
1901 First Avenue
(212) 423-7993

Renaissance Health Care Network Diagnostic and Treatment Center
215 West 125th Street
(212) 939-8060

Queens
Elmhurst Hospital Center
79-01 Broadway
(718) 334-1900

Queens Hospital Center
82-68 164th Street
Jamaica
(718) 883-4509

Women on Staten Island can get a free mammogram by calling the Women's Outreach Network at (800) 564-6868 or 311 to schedule an appointment at one the following locations throughout the month of May:

Staten Island
Friday, May 2nd, Starting at 11:00am
Senator Andrew Lanza's Office
345 Richmond Avenue

Wednesday, May 7th, Starting at 8:00am
I.S. #2, George L. Egert School
333 Midland Avenue

Monday, May 12th, Starting at 8:00am
Public School #16
80 Monroe Avenue

Sunday, May 18th, Starting at 10:00am
Todt Hill Westerly Branch Library
2550 Victory Boulevard

Tuesday, May 20th, Starting at 8:00am
Temple Israel
315 Forest Avenue

Wednesday, May 28th, Starting at 8:00am
P.S. #20, Port Richmond School
161 Park Avenue

All HHC facilities work closely with the Cancer Services Program Partnership to extend no-cost mammograms to women who qualify. To learn more about breast cancer screening and mammograms or to view the Mother’s Day Mammogram Campaign ads, visit HHC's Web site at nyc.gov/hhc.

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the largest municipal hospital and health care system in the country, is a $5.4 billion public benefit corporation that serves 1.3 million New Yorkers and nearly 400,000 who are uninsured. HHC provides medical, mental health and substance abuse services through its 11 acute care hospitals, four skilled nursing facilities, six large diagnostic and treatment centers and more than 80 community based health centers. For more information about HHC, visit nyc.gov/hhc.