Mobile mammography center to visit Belk at Albany Mall

ALBANY — The BelkGives on the Go Mobile Mammography Center, a 39-footlong screening center on wheels, will stop at the Belk located in the Albany Mall next week to offer free mammogram screenings.

The mobile center will be active from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on Feb. 25. All screening exams will be performed by Charlotte Radiology’s mammography technologists, and a board-certified radiologist specialized in breast imaging will interpret the mammogram.

Officials with Belk said confidential results will be sent to the patient and her primary care physician.

BelkGives on the Go Mobile mammography was launched in 2013 in partnership with Charlotte Radiology with the intention of bringing convenient digital screening and awareness to 80 Belk stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

In its time on the road, the mobile unit has performed mammograms through a $6 million investment in the program meant to demonstrate the retailer’s commitment to women’s health issues, breast cancer education and the company’s single-largest charitable contribution to date.

“Belk is the only retailer of its kind to form a partnership alongside community and health organizations by extending breast cancer screening and increasing breast cancer awareness through its own operation,” officials with the store said.

After receiving mammograms, women may take advantage of complimentary bra fittings at the store.

Women age 40 and over with no breast concerns, not pregnant or breastfeeding who have not had a mammogram in the last 12 months and have a primary care physician are eligible and can call (855) 655-BMMC (2662) to schedule an appointment.

Belk officials said $1.2 million have been donated by Belk customers for the program as part of a breast cancer awareness campaign over the last three years. More than 150,000 women have been screened, 57 percent of whom were without health insurance.

Since January 2013, 50 cases of cancer have been diagnosed through the program, officials with the store said.

The visit to Albany will be among 17 stops the BelkGives on the Go Mobile mammography unit will make in Georgia, including visits to Bainbridge June 13-14 and in Valdosta June 16-17.

For more information, go to belk.com/pink.