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EDGARD – Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is hosting a FREE cancer screening event on Saturday, August 27 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Juan A. Joseph Memorial Park (3445 LA Highway 18) in Edgard. Early detection is key when it comes to cancer diagnosis and treatment, so residents are encouraged to come out and take advantage of free breast and colorectal cancer screenings.

This event is one in a series of community events offered through Mary Bird Perkins’ innovative Prevention on the Go program, a program designed to provide education and early detection services in locations where people live, work, worship, shop and play. Through the use of the Cancer Center’s mobile medical clinics, the Mary Bird Perkins team travels throughout Louisiana and Southwest Mississippi to serve thousands of participants each year. Across Southeast Louisiana, these events are supported by local partners in an effort to provide River Parishes residents with greater access to cancer screenings.

“Early detection is key when it comes to successful treatment and improving survivorship,” said Brittny Costella, early detection regional manager, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “We are proud to offer these cancer screening services to residents of Edgard and surrounding communities. We encourage everyone to come out and take advantage of this free screening opportunity. You never know – it could save your life.”

The breast cancer screenings will be performed by a physician or nurse practitioner for women 18 and older. Mammograms will be available for women 40 and older who do not have a doctor and have not been screened in the past 12 months. Insurance will be billed for mammograms, but there will be no charge for women without insurance.

Take-home colorectal cancer screening kits will be distributed at colorectal cancer screening appointments. Men and women ages 45 and older who have not been screened for colorectal cancer in the past 12 months are eligible. This does not replace a medical examination or other screening procedures.

Appointments are required for all screenings. If an abnormality is found, a nurse navigator will assist screening participants with next steps. To make an appointment, please call 985-239-5739.

For more information on these events or to access the Cancer Center’s full screenings schedule, please visit marybird.org/get-screened.
Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is a regional cancer care organization that has been fighting cancer for more than 50 years. The cancer care organization provides care at eight centers in Baton Rouge, Covington, Hammond, Houma, Gonzales, and Natchez, Mississippi, and its service area encompasses southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi regions. Mary Bird Perkins has a strategic partnership with OneOncology and the largest radiation and medical oncology groups from across the area including exclusive partnerships with Southeastern Louisiana Radiation Oncology Group, which provides radiation therapy throughout Mary Bird Perkins’ service areas, Northshore Oncology Associates, serving St. Tammany and Washington Parishes, specifically the communities of Covington and Slidell and Louisiana Hematology Oncology Associates, which services the Greater Baton Rouge area. For more information, please visit www.marybird.org.