Gainesville hospital gets cancer screening grant

GAINESVILLE - A $200,000 state grant will enable Northeast Georgia Medical Center to increase breast and cervical cancer prevention and screening in seven counties.

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Smith says less than ten percent of uninsured women in the targeted counties get regular exams for breast and cervical cancer.

Smith says the reason is two-fold: a lack of education and financial reasons.

The medical center will use a mobile van to take the services to Dawson, Hart, Rabun, Stephens, White, Franklin, and, Banks counties.

Smith says another aspect of the program will focus on making it easier for women in those counties to get to existing screening sites.