West Palm Beach, Fla. (March 14, 2023) – Women in Palm Beach County will soon have more access to breast and cervical cancer screenings, thanks to $951,500 in federal funding. Congresswoman Lois Frankel secured the federal grant to replicate the Promise Fund of Florida’s Women’s Health Center l at Genesis Community Health in Boynton Beach. Some funding will also support expanded cervical health programs at Promise Fund’s flagship location at FoundCare Palm Springs, where Frankel and Promise Fund leaders visited for a check presentation to celebrate the success.
The Promise Fund of Florida is a Palm Beach County-based nonprofit. Its mission is to improve access to life-saving breast and cervical cancer screenings, services, and treatment for women, especially those facing financial and cultural health barriers. The Promise Fund credits its successful model to its culturally competent patient navigators, who provide comprehensive services, including coordinating transportation, translation, and sometimes even childcare. It also relies heavily on community partnerships, such as with area hospitals that provide reduced cost or free treatment for patients who are discovered to have cancer.
“We are so grateful to Congresswoman Lois Frankel for her support of women in Palm Beach County,” said Ambassador Nancy Brinker, founder of the Promise Fund of Florida. “This grant will help the Promise Fund achieve its goal of reaching all 80,000 uninsured women in Palm Beach County. The Promise Fund model works; it saves lives. We know that from our work with FoundCare. We look forward to expanding our reach so that no woman dies unnecessarily of breast or cervical cancer. These cancers are highly treatable when caught early.”
Congresswoman Lois Frankel’s funding will specifically provide capital equipment and renovation to replicate Promise Fund’s Women’s Health Center at Genesis Community Health in Boynton Beach. The grant will also support purchasing cervical health equipment for FoundCare Palm Springs (current location of Promise Fund’s inaugural Promise Fund Women’s Health Center) and costs related to operating the program and equipment (radiology reading fees; storage of ultrasound and mammogram images; accreditation for new capital equipment; maintenance for women’s health equipment; and letters to women letting them know the screening results).
“We are going to save lives - the lives of our mothers, grandmothers, and sisters,” said Rep. Lois Frankel. “What has been set up at FoundCare will serve as a model to increase access to early detection for our under-resourced communities.”
President Joe Biden signed the fiscal year 2023 government funding bill into law, and in total, the Promise Fund is receiving $2.7 million to help expand its model. Congresswomen Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Debbie Wasserman Schultz secured the other funding.
The Promise Fund’s model is to create a women’s health center at Federally Qualified Health Centers where women can easily get screened for breast and cervical cancers. For example, Promise Fund secured the donation of a mammography machine from medical technology company Hologic and placed it at FoundCare, the county’s largest local FQHC. Before its arrival, only 10 percent of FoundCare patients who were referred for mammograms went on to receive one. Now, almost 60 percent do.
Since launching the patient-centered navigation component of the Continuum of Care model in 2018, Promise Fund has educated, screened, treated, and navigated more than 20,000 women for breast and cervical cancer through 20 patient navigators working in areas of high need. The Promise Fund looks to reach all 80,000 uninsured women in Palm Beach County by 2024.
To learn more about the Promise Fund’s progress to ensure the successful replication of its innovative Continuum of Care service delivery model within Florida and the nation, visit www.PromiseFundOfFlorida.org.
Photo Credit: Van Richardson
