On Saturday, October 26th, St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) hosted its much-anticipated annual free clinical breast exams with great success. A record-breaking 208 women were screened for breast cancer by SMMC’s medical specialists and local general practitioners, supported by volunteers from SMMC and student doctors from the American University of the Caribbean (AUC).
From 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, SMMC’s medical specialists and local doctors, led by CEO and General Surgeon Dr. Felix Holiday, performed more than 208 physical breast exams. In addition to the exams, the specialists, Dr. Kesoemoarso, Dr. Rojas, Dr. van Groeningen, Dr. Van Harmelen, Dr. Assman, Dr. Akaberi, Dr. Vreden, and the general practitioners Dr. Singh, Dr. Reinders, Dr. Simmons, Dr. Dennaoui and Dr. Bekele, also provided health information to attendees. AUC’s student doctors shadowed the medical specialists and doctors during the exams and provided instructions on self-examinations to all women.
In addition to the physical breast exams, attendees were also able to make use of free blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring carried out by SMMC’s Outpatient nursing team and free HIV exams provided by the St. Maarten AIDS Foundation. Guardian Insurances, SZV and FLOW partnered up for the event and were also on-site with activities and giveaways. The foundations offered informational resources on breast cancer in English and Spanish, aiming to educate and encourage women to stay vigilant about their breast health.
“We host this event annually as one of our ways of giving back to our community and we are fortunate to work with foundations like the Positive Foundation, the Elektralytes Foundation and the Still Beautiful Foundation to do our part in the early detection of breast cancer. Research has proven that early detection leads to better health outcomes for patients including recovery” said SMMC’s Senior Communications Officer and event organizer Shari de Riggs.
de Riggs continued “This year, thanks to our Radiology team consisting of Farida Abionie, Stephanie Schaak, Norrisa Anatol, and Dr. Vinia Snijders, we were also able to perform 40 mammograms on the spot as well as a few urgent breast ultrasounds”.
Uninsured women were able to receive mammograms if needed thanks to a joint effort between the foundations and SMMC resulting in no cost being charged to the women.
“We’d like to thank our incredible medical specialists, local general practitioners, staff volunteers, Social Committee and our partners; Positive Foundation, Elektralytes Foundation, Still Beautiful Foundation, Guardian Insurances, SZV Insurances, FLOW EC, AUC and the St. Maarten AIDS Foundation for being a part of this community outreach initiative. We look forward to continuing to work with these organizations and foundations to raise awareness and increase action in the fight against breast cancer and other diseases and illnesses that affect our community”, concluded de Riggs.
“The Positive Foundation and Elektralyets Foundation are delighted to have participated in the St. Maarten Medical Center’s annual free Women’s Health Day Event, where a record-breaking 208 women were screened for breast cancer. This remarkable turnout highlights the critical role of early detection and community support in the fight against breast cancer” noted Mercedes Wyatt-van der Waals, President of the Elektralytes Foundation.
Shelly Alphonso, President of the Positive Foundation added, “We extend our deepest gratitude to the dedicated medical specialists, local general practitioners, volunteers, and partners who made this event a success. Together, we are advancing towards better health outcomes and raising awareness about breast cancer. It was a really nice surprise to have SMMC’s radiology department available during the event for mammograms and ultrasounds. On behalf of the foundations and the community of St. Maarten, we are immensely grateful for the ongoing support and commitment to this vital cause.”