Southeast Washington (March 12, 2004) – Laura Bush toured the new Capital Breast Care Center (CBCC) and its soon-to-be opened mammography suite on Tuesday, March 9, 2004. The CBCC was opened by Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, and made possible through a $1 million start-up grant from the Avon Foundation.

“The Avon Foundation, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Lombardi’s clinical partner MedStar Health share a vision for the District of Columbia that no woman in need of breast care services is left behind,” said Jeanne Mandelblatt, professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center and director of the CBCC. “At CBCC, we will not turn any woman away, regardless of insurance or financial status. The thing we care about most is getting Washington women properly screened and cared for in a quality setting.”

The mission of the CBCC is to provide the highest quality education, screening, diagnostic, and treatment services to all women in the District. The CBCC currently provides:

• comprehensive health exams and family history reviews

• education on how to give self breast exams

• one-on-one meetings with health educators

• mammography at MedStar’s Washington Hospital Center (with parking or taxi vouchers provided)

The center will soon have on-site mammography. If a woman's mammogram comes back with reason for concern, the Lombardi/MedStar team provides health “navigators” to help women get access to specialists, clinical trials, and all the treatment services they need. Uninsured women are enrolled on the spot for Project Wish, which covers the cost of their mammography, so truly any women can use the center as a resource.

“Our collaboration will provide medically underserved women in multicultural communities throughout the DC metro area with the quality breast care that they might not have otherwise received,” said Andrea Jung, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Avon Products Inc. “Until the disease is eradicated, Avon remains committed to the fight against breast cancer and to partnering with organizations and programs worldwide to ensure all women receive parity in medical care regardless of economic or social circumstances. We invite other corporations and foundations to join this important fight and help with this issue of access to care.”

Located at 650 Pennsylvania Avenue near the Eastern Market metro, CBCC provides parking and has a van to pick up groups of women from their neighborhoods. Women can call 202-675-2099 to make appointments. There is bilingual staff to assist Spanish-speaking patients.

“MedStar Health, through our seven hospitals and other healthcare services, has a great commitment to providing quality health care to underserved areas in the Washington-Baltimore region,” said John P. McDaniel, CEO of MedStar Health. “Our partnership with Georgetown’s Lombardi Cancer Center is helping to save women's lives by providing a safety net for them that did not previously exist.”

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The Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center and Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Lombardi is one of only 38 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington DC area. For more information, go to www.georgetown.edu/gumc

MedStar Health is a not-for-profit, community-based healthcare organization comprised of 25 integrated businesses including seven major hospitals in the Baltimore/Washington area. The hospitals, which include both teaching and community facilities, are Georgetown University Hospital, Washington Hospital Center and National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C., and Franklin Square Hospital Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Harbor Hospital Center, and Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore. MedStar Health is the third-largest employer in the region with 22,000 employees and 4,000 affiliated physicians. For more information, go to www.medstarhealth.org

The Avon Foundation, an accredited 501(c)(3) public charity, was founded in 1955 with a mission to improve the lives of women by supporting programs that offer economic opportunity and provide care and research for breast cancer in the U.S. and around the world. The Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade began in the U.K. in 1992, and has expanded to 50 countries. The focus is on reaching the medically underserved population, including minorities, the poor, elderly, under- and uninsured, with a mission to fund access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer. Funds are raised through a variety of programs, including the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series. To date the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade has returned more than $300 million to breast cancer research and care organizations worldwide. For more information, go to www.avonfoundation.org