MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bonnie’s Bus, a digital mammography center on wheels, will visit Mingo County next week, offering digital mammograms and breast care education to women. A service of WVU Healthcare, Bonnie’s Bus will be at the Head Start located at 3085 McCoy Alley in Matewan from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17.

The mammograms are billed to insurance, Medicaid or Medicare if available. Mammograms for women who do not have insurance will be covered by the West Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program or through special grant funds. A physician’s order is needed for a mammogram. For a Bonnie’s Bus appointment call the Mingo County Health Department at 304-235-3570.

Last year, Bonnie’s Bus made 65 visits in 30 counties throughout West Virginia providing mammography screening to nearly 800 women. About half of those screened were medically underserved and from challenged socio-economic backgrounds and qualified for screening through the Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program. The goal for this year is to screen at least 1,200 women.

Bonnie’s Bus works in collaboration with a statewide partnership of women’s groups, clinicians, public health professionals and other community leaders working to help reduce the number of deaths from breast cancer in West Virginia. Coalfield Community Action Partnership is sponsoring the Bus visit to Matewan.

Made possible by a generous gift from West Virginia natives Jo and Ben Statler to WVU’s Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, Bonnie’s Bus is operated by WVU Hospitals. The bus is named after Mrs. Statler’s late mother, Bonnie Wells Wilson.

For information on Bonnie’s Bus, see www.wvucancer.org/bonnie.

Attention reporters and editors: If you are interested in covering Bonnie’s Bus when it visits your area, please call the HSC News Service in Morgantown at 304-293-7087 in advance. Out of respect for patient privacy, please do not show up at the location without scheduling an appropriate time for interviews and/or photos.