Bonnie’s Bus to offer mammograms in Union and Charleston

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Bonnie’s Bus, a 45-foot, state-of-the-art mobile mammography vehicle, will visit Monroe and Kanawha counties offering three-dimensional (3D) digital screening mammograms and breast care education to women.

A service of WVU Medicine and the WVU Cancer Institute, Bonnie’s Bus will be at:

  • Monroe Health Center in Union from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 1. For an appointment, call 304-772-3064.
  • Sissonville Health Center in Charleston from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 2. For an appointment, call 304-984-1576.

Patient and staff safety is a top priority, and extra precautions will be taken during the pandemic. Changes will include staff wearing masks, patients waiting in their car until their appointment time, and extended appointment times to allow staff to thoroughly sanitize between patients.

The screening mammograms are billed to private insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare, if available. Patients who are underinsured or uninsured and meet enrollment criteria will be assisted in enrolling in the West Virginia Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program (WVBCCSP) to cover the cost of their screening mammogram. Uninsured women living in West Virginia who are 40 and older can receive a free screening mammogram on the Bus through the generosity of grant funding and donations. A physician’s order is needed for a mammogram.

Bonnie’s Bus has provided more than 21,500 mammograms for women throughout West Virginia and led to the detection of more than 110 cases of breast cancer since 2009. Many of those screened are underinsured or uninsured and qualify for screening through the WVBCCSP.

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

 

Made possible by a generous gift from West Virginia natives Jo and Ben Statler to the Cancer Institute, Bonnie’s Bus is operated in partnership with WVU Hospitals. The Bus is named after Jo 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 Heather Bonecutter, WVU Medicine communications specialist, at 304-285-7256 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.