Big Bend area health officials are looking for a way to provide mammograms to residents after voting last month to reject a funding proposal for a new breast cancer screening machine.
The region was left without any mammogram services in August after an El Paso company ended its longtime program that brought mobile screenings to the area on a routine basis.
Since then, the Big Bend Regional Hospital District - a local public health entity that primarily oversees the area’s indigent health care program - has been exploring ways to restore the service. But at a meeting in late October, district board members voted against a proposal for the district to pay for a new mammogram machine at the area’s primary hospital, Big Bend Regional Medical Center in Alpine.
Buddy Cavness, the district’s board chairman, said at the Oct. 30 meeting that the district would not purchase the machine for the hospital after consulting with an attorney.
“We have been advised that we are not able to purchase a mammogram machine - but we also have other options that we can discuss with y’all,” Cavness said, speaking to hospital representatives at the meeting. “As of today, we cannot vote to purchase a machine for y’all to use for-profit.”
Still, Cavness pledged to find a solution, saying conversations about the issue would continue.
“I promise you, and all the board agrees, we still will provide a mammogram service one way or another,” he said.
Lynette Brehm, the district’s executive director, declined to comment further on the matter.
In a statement, Big Bend Regional Medical Center said the hospital is still exploring funding options for mammography services.
“Providing local access to mammography is part of our commitment to the health and well-being of our patients,” hospital spokesperson Lorrie Cobos said. “We look forward to continuing discussions with [the hospital district] to determine how we can work together to support our communities.”
For years, the El Paso company Desert Imaging provided breast cancer screening for Big Bend area residents until earlier this summer. Brehm previously told Marfa Public Radio that the company’s move to end the mobile mammogram program was a “business decision.” The program’s ending means Big Bend area residents are now faced with hourslong drives to access breast cancer screenings in larger cities like El Paso and Odessa.
Brehm said in August that nearly 300 women in the Big Bend region utilized the mobile mammogram services in the first part of this year, and the district was on track to see about as many people use the service in the second half of the year.
