WellOne, American Cancer Society collaborate to fight colorectal cancer

BURRILLVILLE – WellOne Primary Medical and Dental Care and the American Cancer Society encourage those who are 50 or older, and those with certain colon cancer risk factors, to schedule a colorectal cancer screening. Although a colonoscopy is the gold standard for screening for and preventing colorectal cancer, other screening methods are available, depending on one’s situation.
WellOne, one of only 12 community health centers in New England participating in this pilot collaboration, and the ACS’ New England division are part of a nationwide movement to increase colon cancer screening rates.
“Community health centers have been required to track and report colorectal screening rates in the Uniform Data System since 2012,” said Peter Bancroft, president and CEO of WellOne, in a release. “The UDS is the Health Resources and Services Administration’s core tracking system for reviewing the operation and performance of health centers. We have been working on increasing rates of colorectal cancer screening for our patients and the community for some time. In collaboration with the ACS, we are aiming to increase our efforts even more moving forward.”
“WellOne’s team is an extraordinary group of individuals,” said Melissa Campbell, health systems manager in Rhode Island for the ACS’ New England division. “Their dedication and enthusiasm for providing access to quality health care regardless of one’s ability to pay is remarkable.
According to the ACS, colorectal cancer is the nation’s second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women combined. The good news, however, is that colorectal cancer is one of only a few preventable cancers. Through proper colorectal cancer screening, doctors can find and remove pre-cancerous growths in the colon, before they become cancerous. In its early stages, colorectal cancer usually has no symptoms.

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