Community Outreach & Resources

As the region’s cancer expert, The Saint Vincent Cancer Care Center presents and participates in various programs designed for early detection and prevention of cancer.

Body & Soul
Community Screenings
H.E.A.L.

Body & Soul
In 2004, The Saint Vincent Women’s Center launched a program titled, “Body & Soul Outreach” to educate women of color and others in the community who are at risk for invasive breast cancer on the importance of mammography. This program was created in response to a rate of invasive breast cancer in Erie County that was disproportionately higher than state and national averages.

“Body & Soul” presented programs at neighborhood churches, community centers, libraries, a local theatre and other venues, reaching more than a thousand women. This program was recently rewarded for its effectiveness by a $30,000 grant to pilot a Breast Health Patient Navigator program. The grant, from the Pittsburgh Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, will support a Nurse Navigator to help guide women from their screening mammogram through diagnosis, treatment and recovery from breast cancer. It will also fund the continuation of “Body & Soul Outreach” through a partnership with Greater Calvary Full Gospel Baptist Church. Through the Breast Health Navigator, the funding will also help break down the barriers to mammography for women who have no insurance coverage.

Community Screenings
The Saint Vincent Cancer Care Center presents cancer screenings at community health fairs, at work sites, and in partnership with community organizations.

H.E.A.L.
Saint Vincent is a partner in Healing Erie through Anointed Love, a faith-based group founded by Saint Vincent surgical oncologist Hank C. Hill, MD, to help bridge the health care gap for the region’s underserved and minority communities. H. E.A.L., a coalition of churches and community organizations dedicated to health, conducts regular cancer screenings and hosts an annual Gospel Fest and Health Symposium, providing education, activities and screenings designed to create a healthier community.