PONCHATOULA, La. – Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is hosting a FREE cancer screening event on Wednesday, September 28 from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at Strawberry Parking Lot (110 W. Hickory St.) in Ponchatoula. Early detection is key when it comes to cancer diagnosis and treatment, so residents are encouraged to come out and take advantage of these free prostate 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. Using 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. These events are supported by local partners to provide residents with greater access to cancer screenings in a convenient location close to home.
“Early detection is key to treating cancer,” said Brittny Costella, early detection regional manager, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. “We are grateful to have the opportunity to bring our Prevention on the Go program to the residents of Ponchatoula and surrounding communities. Everyone is encouraged to participate in this free screening opportunity. Early cancer detection saves lives.”
“We are fortunate to have Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center as part of our medical community caring for our residents,” said Ponchatoula Mayor Robert Zabbia. “Through the years, they have always served us and our neighboring communities well.”
Take-home colorectal cancer screening kits will be distributed at colorectal cancer screening appointments. Men and women 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) 287-5775.
For more information on these events or to access the Cancer Center’s full screenings schedule, please visit marybird.org/get-screened.
About Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center
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 nine centers in Baton Rouge, Covington, Hammond, Houma, Gonzales, Slidell, and Natchez, Mississippi, and its service area encompasses southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi regions. Mary Bird Perkins has a strategic affiliation 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.