Monday, May 19, 2025
Nassau University Medical Center recently unveiled a new, state-of-the-art mammography van outside the hospital’s main entrance, allowing hospital staff, breast cancer organizations and county officials to take a close look at the vehicle that will provide lifesaving scans to women across Nassau County.
Plans for the new mobile breast cancer-screening unit were first announced in October, with hospital administrators stating that the goal was to have the van on the road by May. The new vehicle — dubbed the “MammoVan” — will greatly enhance the standard of care being offered to patients, replacing the hospital’s previous mammography van, which had been in use since 2002.
The old van visited Nassau County communities two days a week, working in tandem with libraries or local government officials to host a screening clinic. The new van is slated to head into communities five to six days a week.
“We’re going to see an increase annually of 40 percent more patients,” Meg Ryan, the president and chief executive of NUMC, said last year. “That’s 40 percent more people that we can get in the van, diagnose and treat early. So that’s very important for our community.”
NUMC also offers women’s health care clinics with extended hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and weekend clinics, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays, serving a total of around 20,000 patients last year alone. The hospital is also a partner with the Jericho-based nonprofit, Hair We Share, which provides human hair wigs made from donated hair, free of charge, to people struggling with medical hair loss. Based in Jericho, NUMC’s oncology suite now features a “wig room” to help patients dealing with chemotherapy-related hair loss.
“One in four women in the age from 50 to 74 have not gotten screened when it’s available, it’s free and it’s something that can save your life,” County Executive Bruce Blakeman said at the unveiling on April 24. “It’s not just women who get breast cancer — men get breast cancer too. It’s a good idea to get screen — it’s an important idea, and it may be a lifesaving idea to get screened.”
NUMC hosted its first-ever Pink Gala at The Lannin in Eisenhower Park in November to help fundraise for the recent addition. The new van cost around $1 million, and while the hospital has some funding secured for it, additional proceeds from the gala helped to cover the cost of the purchase.
Ryan thanked Nassau County officials, the hospital’s board of directors and NUMC’s medical staff for their work in helping deliver accessible, high-quality health care to every corner of Nassau County.
“Nassau County ranks number one in breast cancer incidents across New York state, and that’s a statistic that we just simply can’t ignore,” she said. “That’s why I’m thrilled that for the first time in 25 years, we are launching this brand new ‘MammoVan,’ equipped with the latest 3D high resolution mammography technology. We are bringing lifesaving changes closer to home, and together we are changing lives. This is just yet another reason why Nassau County needs NUMC.
“This is a horrible disease, and as the county executive said, it affects everybody, but of course in particular women, and to hear that one in four women over the age of 50 that are expected to be screened for this don’t (get screened), we knew we needed to do something about that,” County Legislator John Ferreti added. “I’m so happy we’re going to have this mammography van here, because it’s about protecting the health of all Nassau County residents, in particular the health of women, and that’s what we do in Nassau County.”
