Award to be used for breast cancer screening in partnership with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

 BOSTON, MA, ISSUED FEBRUARY  9, 2023…Whittier Street Health Center, a community health center with a mission to serve as a center of excellence that provides high quality and accessible health care and social services that achieve health equity, social justice, and the economic well-being of a diverse patient population, is one of 22 Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded health centers nationwide to receive a grant to improve access to life-saving cancer screenings and early detection services for underserved communities.

Use of the $500,000 grant awarded to Whittier Street Health Center will focus on a breast cancer screening program, in partnership with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The grant awards come on the first anniversary of the Biden-Harris Administration’s reignited Cancer Moonshot initiative, a call to action to reduce the cancer death rate in this country by at least 50% over the next 25 years and to support families living with and surviving cancer.

According to Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the 22 grants totaling nearly $11 million is an investment in health centers working toward reducing the disparities in cancer screenings “across races, ethnicities, genders, and incomes.”

“We are grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration and HRSA for this grant that will allow us, in partnership with Dana-Farber, to offer life-saving breast cancer screenings and linkage to treatment and evaluation for patients from diverse backgrounds,” said Frederica M. Williams, president and CEO of Whittier Street Health Center. “While it is true that cancer affects all population groups, disparities in screening, treatment, and cancer rate are disproportionate due to economic, social, and environmental disadvantages. With this grant we hope to mitigate some of that disparity.”

 About Whittier Street Health Center

Whittier Street Health Center is an independently licensed community health care center with a mission of providing high quality, reliable and accessible primary healthcare for diverse populations while promoting wellness and eliminating health and social disparities. A champion of equitable access to high quality, patient-focused care, social justice and economic equity, Whittier Street Health Center is accredited by The Joint Commission (TJC), certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Patient-Centered Medical Home, and recognized by the NCQA for its Behavioral Health Integration. Through its locations in Roxbury and North Dorchester, and its Mobile Health Van program, Whittier Street Health Center serves more than 30,000 patients and 20,000 community outreach visits annually; its ethnically and racially diverse patient base is primarily made up of individuals from Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, the South End and greater Boston. Approximately 36% of Whittier’s patients are uninsured. Whittier Street Health Center provides a comprehensive array of 40 healthcare programs and services designed to meet the primary health care, behavioral health, and social needs of the community. For more information, please visit www.wshc.org as well as Facebook (www.facebook.com/WhittierStreetHealthCenter), Twitter (@Whittier_Boston), or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/whittier-street-health-center), or call 617-989-3221.

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CONTACT: Nicole Joy Hales, PRfirst, 617-947-7983, nhales@prfirst.com