Governor Cuomo Launches Statewide Grassroots Campaign to Highlight New Breast Cancer Screening Initiatives and the Importance of Early Detection

LongIsland.com

Governor Cuomo launched a grassroots campaign to raise awareness about the importance of breast cancer screenings and expanded hours at more than 200 hospitals and clinics statewide.

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New campaign educates New Yorkers about new legislation to expand screening hours at hospitals and remove insurance barriers for screening procedures.

Photo by: Governor's Press Office, via Flickr.

Albany, NY - September 16, 2016 - Today, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo launched a grassroots campaign to raise awareness about the importance of breast cancer screenings and the newly expanded hours at more than 200 hospitals and clinics statewide. The new statewide campaign, part of the "Get Screened, No Excuses" initiative, comes on the heels of the legislation the Governor signed in June to eliminate barriers to regular checkups and mammograms, which make early detection possible and ensure treatment can begin when it is most effective, and builds on the Governor’s series of breast cancer initiatives, outlined in the 2016 State of the State Address.

“Early detection is the best way to beat breast cancer,” Governor Cuomo said. “When breast cancer touched our family, we made it a mission to help ensure no New Yorker had to experience the anguish, anxiety and uncertainly that we did. We have advanced the most robust breast cancer screening program in the country that knocks down barriers and makes sure every woman – regardless of her financial background or busy schedule – can catch and treat this disease early. Until we cure breast cancer once and for all, we will continue to raise awareness about early detection to make sure all of our residents are getting screened, no excuses." ​

The Governor kicked off the campaign at an event at the Dyckman Houses in Washington Heights today with State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, Public Advocate Letisha James, and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. Governor Cuomo, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul and state commissioners, in partnership with breast cancer advocates, will travel across the state to hold events and promote the importance of early detection. At each location, a team of staff members from the Department of Health will be canvassing and distributing flyers with locations and phone numbers of hospitals offering extended hours so that New Yorkers can find a screening location near them.

In June, Governor Cuomo signed legislation to build upon $91 million in investments outlined in the 2016 State of the State Address to increase awareness and screening for breast cancer, including a public awareness campaign, community outreach programs, patient navigators, and mobile mammography vans. The legislation and campaign will:

  • Require more than 200 hospitals and hospital extension clinics to offer extended hours of screening for at least four hours per week to help women who have difficulty scheduling mammograms during the typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday. These hours include 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday or Sunday;
  • Eliminate annual deductibles, co-payments, and co-insurance payments (“cost-sharing”) for all screening mammograms, including those provided to women more frequently than current federal screening guidelines such as annual mammograms for women in their forties;
  • Eliminate cost-sharing for diagnostic imaging for breast cancer, including diagnostic mammograms, breast ultrasounds, and breast MRIs for women at high risk for breast cancer. As a result, women in need of tests other than standard mammograms will not have to pay any additional out-of-pocket expenses for these most common diagnostic tests;
  • Add public employees of cities with a population of one million or more, to the population of public employees in New York State who are currently allowed four hours of leave for screening for breast cancer each year. Current state law requires all public employers to provide their employees with four hours of leave each year for breast cancer screening. Now public employees in New York City will receive the same benefit as all other public employees statewide.
  • Offer guidance throughout the screening process with Patient Navigators
  • Bring screenings to communities statewide with the new mobile mammography vans​

For more information on breast cancer screenings and support, call the New York State breast cancer hotline at 1-866-442-CANCER (2262). The line is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can assist non-English speaking callers. New Yorkers can also text "Get Screened" to 81336 to find a screening location with extended hours near them.

A list of facilities offering extended screening hours in New York City is available below:

Manhattan

St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center
1111 Amsterdam Avenue
212-523-4267

Beth Israel Phillips Ambulatory Care Center
10 Union Square East
212-844-8880

New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital
170 William Street
212-312-5179

Avon Foundation Breast Imaging Center
1130 St Nicholas Avenue
212-851-4516

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
300 E 66th Street
646-227-3700

Breast Exam Center of Harlem
163 West 125th St.
212-531-8000

Midtown Medical Pavilion NY Radiology
1790 Broadway
212-772-3111

Lenox Hill Hospital
100 East 77 Street
212-439-2900

Mount Sinai/Beth Israel Comprehensive Cancer Center
325 West 15th St
212-604-6009

Mount Sinai Hospital Cam Building
17 E 102nd Street
212-824-7700

Metropolitan Hospital Center
1901 First Avenue
212-423-8347

NYU Clinical Cancer Center
221 Lexington Avenue
212-731-5002

Queens

NYU Langone at Columbus Medical
97-85 Blvd, Rego Park
718-261-8686

The Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens
25-10 30th Avenue, Long Island City
718-808-7500

The New York-Presbyterian Hospital of Queens
56-45 Main Street, Flushing
718-670-1050

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

St. John’s Episcopal Hospital
327 Beach 19th Street, Far Rockaway
718-869-7780

Elmhurst Hospital Center
79-01 Broadway, Elmhurst
718-334-2061 ​

 
Bronx

Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center
1650 Grand Concourse
718-518-5270

North Central Bronx Hospital
3424 Kossuth Avenue
718-519-3087

Montefiore Medical Center North Division
600 East 233rd Street
718-920-9188

St Barnabas Hospital
4422 Third Avenue
718-960-6162

Montefiore Imaging Center at the Greene Medical Arts Pavilion
3400 Bainbridge Avenue
718-920-5400

Brooklyn

 
The Brooklyn Hospital Center
121 DeKalb Avenue
718-250-8240

Coney Island Hospital
2601 Ocean Parkway
718-616-3794

Interfaith Medical Center
1545 Atlantic Ave
718-613-4408

Mount Sinai Brooklyn
3201 Kings Highway
718-951-2930

Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center
585 Schenectady Ave
718-604-5461

Maimonides Breast Center at Maimonides Medical Center
745 64th Street
718-765-2560

New York Methodist Hospital
506 Sixth Street
718-780-5029

Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center
760 Broadway
718-963-5889

Kings County Hospital Center
451 Clarkson Ave
718-245-4422

Brookdale University Hospital
1 Brookdale Plaza
718-240-8270

Wyckoff Heights Medical Center
374 Stockholm Street
718-963-2090

SUNY/Downstate Medical Center University Hospital
450 Clarkson Ave
718-270-1620

Staten Island

Regional Radiology
360 Bard Avenue
718-605-6500

The Breast Imaging Center at Staten Island
256 Mason Ave
718-226-1333

Richmond University Medical Center
355 Bard Ave
718-818-1490