Atrium Health Navicent Mobile Mammography Coach celebrates a year of serving women

WARNER ROBINS — Atrium Health Navicent Mobile Mammography Coach has officially approached a year of providing breast cancer screenings. 

The mammography coach served their first patient on Jan.7, 2025 at Central Georgia Technical College’s Warner Robins campus. Since then, they have served approximately 1,600 women across the state, which Radiology Director Latasha Hill considered a huge milestone. 

“Just making it easy and accessible to women has been a huge milestone. We’re just grateful for everything,” she said. 

The coach continues to stop by the college and various locations where women can easily access their services. 

Hill said her and her team are very grateful for what they have accomplished over the past year. She shared they have visited several communities throughout the state and have been able to reach more women. 

She said one of the locations they have visited were summer camps so mothers can easily stop by while they are dropping off their children. 

The coach also stops by schools to meet teachers where they are, since it is difficult for them to take time off of work, Hill mentioned. She said teachers have been one of their biggest targets from the start. 

Hill shared they have thankfully been able to get into several school systems throughout Middle Georgia. 

“We’ve also been able to detect cancer through us coming into those school systems early for some of the teachers,” she said. “They’ve been very grateful for the partnership that we have had with the school system.”. 

The coach also includes wheelchair access for disabled women and receives grant funding to help uninsured women receive screenings, Hill said. 

One of the biggest ways Hill has seen the coach grow over the years is the staff. She shared the coach is completely run by women from driving to conducting the screenings. 

Hill said they are also starting to work on bringing their second coach which she hopes will be running by the end of the year. Recently, a staff member suggested the new coach should have more space. 

Hill shared the coach has been a growing demand among the Hispanic community. She said most of the time patients will bring someone along for interpretation since there is a language barrier. 

“Hearing the growth in that and [our staff member] recognizing we need more space, even for the interpreters just shows that we’re breaking down those barriers, the growth in them and they’re thinking of just how this program is impacting everyone,” she said. 

The coach benefits the community by detecting early signs of cancer that would not have been found. Hill shared that a lot of women in their 50s and 60s have never had a mammogram, but the coach has been able to change that for them. 

Hill said just by being visible in the community, they have been able to educate younger women. 

She shared they have had the opportunity to educate them on when they need to start getting mammograms.

“Even with those women we found that some of them have a strong family history of breast cancer, then we’re able to support them,” she said. 

Hill believes the coach has given women easier access to detect breast cancer early. 

“This has given women the opportunity not to miss work [and] not have to get a babysitter. If they are at work they can just come out and get a mammogram,” she said. “It’s really about access to care and early detection because we want to catch those cancers. If it is cancer, we want to catch it early. Getting screened yearly is going to help pick up those cancers when they are in their early stage.”

To keep up with the Atrium Health Mobile Mammography Coach people are encouraged to call (478) 633-2003 or visit their Facebook page. 

Those interested in scheduling an appointment can visit here.