PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — More than 75 people attended Carle Health’s free cancer screening event at its North Peoria location on Friday.
The event at the Methodist North building off Van Winkle Way, dubbed as a “Passport to Your Health,” was designed to serve as a one-stop-shop for clients. Individual stations offered information about cervical, colon, breast, skin and lung cancers.
After completing each screening, attendees got a stamp in their passport booklet. They were also treated to pumpkin snacks.
“During the pandemic a lot of people stopped getting their screenings, and we’re really trying to make it easy for patients to come and get screenings,” said Anne Bowman, oncology director at Carle Health.
Bowman said the Peoria area has higher lung cancer rates than national and state averages. Catching cancer early through screenings could save your life.
“If we catch cancer at an earlier stage, a patient’s likelihood of having a better outcome with treatment and better prognosis is good. If we catch it at a later stage, it makes it harder to treat and the patient might not have as good an outcome or as good as response to treatment,” she said.
Bowman said while screening rates have rebounded since the pandemic, they are still not at pre-pandemic levels.
