CAMBRIDGE BREAST CENTER (CBC) AT CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE

Cambridge Breast Center, offering "specialty care with a special touch," opened its doors in September, 2005. Directed by Michael D. Wertheimer, M.D., F.A.C.S., the Center is a multidisciplinary program that provides comprehensive care to women of all ages and strives to impact the incidence of breast-related disease through educational and outreach programs.

Using a team concept, Cambridge Breast Center brings together experts in breast surgery, plastic surgery, oncology, radiology, nutrition, nursing, and psychiatry. Housed in specially designed quarters on the first floor of The Cambridge Hospital, the Center uses new, state-of-the-art radiology and mammography equipment. A unique feature of the Center is its coordinated scheduling system that often allows women to meet with several specialists in a single day, providing them the information they need to make the best decisions for their health. Somerville Hospital now also has new radiology equipment, making it a satellite site of Cambridge Breast Center.

Cambridge Breast Center has a special public health mission as well, reaching out to all women, including the underserved, in Cambridge Health Alliance's primary service area: the Massachusetts communities of Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop.

This is no easy task. The Alliance's primary service area includes some of the most diverse communities in Massachusetts. Nearly 25% of the 375,000 local residents are foreign-born, more than 30% speak a language other than English at home, and most adult non-English speakers are recent immigrants. Many women in these target communities have limited access to health care, chronic health conditions, and a distrust of western medicine. To address this, the Center is working with the Avon Foundation, and the Alliance's nationally-recognized community outreach teams. Together, they are determined to increase mammogram screening rates and address breast health issues in their earliest stages.

The Alliance Foundation for Community Health seeks to raise $1 million over three years to support the start-up and continuing clinical, research and outreach activities of the Center, and is accepting pledges of up to three years' duration. A gift to the Alliance Foundation in support of Cambridge Breast Center is a gift that supports an effective combination of testing, treatment and support services to all, allowing Cambridge Health Alliance to meet the individual health needs of each woman and provide true patient-focused care.