Horizon Health Care, Inc. (Horizon) has been awarded a grant from the South Dakota Department of Health for $19,493.76 to increase the breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening rates in the communities of Alcester, Elk Point and Yankton, SD.
Horizon will be working with the South Dakota Department of Health Comprehensive Cancer Control Program and All Women Count! Program to develop strategies to ensure all people of appropriate age are screened.
According to the South Dakota Cancer Registry, cancer was the second leading cause of death in South Dakota in 2014 with 4,498 cancer cases diagnosed and 1,679 deaths. Each day, 12 cases of cancer are diagnosed in South Dakota residents, and four South Dakotans die from the disease. In 2014, the most common cancer diagnosis in the state was female breast cancer.
Many cancers are survivable if found and treated in their early stages. Completing recommended cancer screening tests helps find breast, cervical and colorectal cancer before they have advanced.
Horizon will utilize grant funds to improve breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening rates by increasing awareness for the need for screening, sending reminders to patients who need to complete screening and working in partnership with clinicians to review rates of screening and develop strategies to increase screening rates among targeted populations.
For over 38 years, Horizon Health Care, Inc. has been providing personalized, affordable, high-quality medical, dental and mental health care through a rural, community-based network in South Dakota. Horizon is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that serves the medical, dental and mental health care needs of South Dakotans in rural, medically underserved areas through 83,000 patient visits annually in 31 community health centers in: Aberdeen, Alcester, Bison, Bryant, De Smet, Eagle Butte, Elk Point, Faith, Fort Thompson, Howard, Huron, Isabel, La Plant, Lake Preston, Martin, McIntosh, Mission, Plankinton, Wessington Springs, White River, Woonsocket and Yankton. For more information please visit www.horizonhealthcare.org