Every Wednesday emergency room staff at Kaiser Permanente in Sacramento and Roseville will wear something pink to encourage women to get mammograms.
DR. ERNIE BODAI: "I have quite a collection of pink shirts."
Dr. Ernie Bodai is Director of breast surgical services at
Kaiser in Sacramento. He says mammography is the most important
breast cancer screening tool. (:09)
DR. ERNIE BODAI: "If the malignancy is found early,
as is only found in mammography, the cure rate is 95%."
Bodai says some people use the E-R for primary care, and Pink
Wednesdays are a way to bring preventative medicine to these
patients.
Kaiser estimates about one in eight women in the U.S. are
likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and
22,000 women in California are diagnosed with the cancer
annually.