ERCC promotes breast cancer awareness
November 17, 2010
As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, many staff members at the Elkins Regional Convalescent Center have been wearing pink gloves. It's just one of many ERCC activities that target critical health care issues.
Pat Summerfield, RN and ERCC staff development director, coordinated the pink glove effort, which is part of a national program supported by Medline, a national medical supply distributor. The goal is to increase awareness of breast cancer and reinforce the message that early detection is critical to battling the disease.
"We all know someone who is fighting breast cancer or who has lost the battle to breast cancer," Summerfield said. "We're proud to bring this national campaign to our local facility."
"Spreading the word about the importance of early detection is a key goal of Medline's campaign, as the average age of an RN is 46.8 and it is recommended that women in their 40s get a mammogram every one to two years," according to Medline's website. "As the nation's largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies, Medline is focused on helping to improve lives. So it's a natural extension of our corporate mission for us to help save lives through the early detection of breast cancer," the site states.
This is the first year ERCC has participated, but Summerfield said similar activities are commonplace at the long-term care and rehabilitation facility.
"ERCC supports Relay for Life all year," she noted. "On Fridays, staff can wear blue jeans, but they pay $1 and that money goes to Relay for Life here in Randolph County. In addition, this past year we helped sponsor and participated in the Walk for Alzheimer's with a team from ERCC and raised about $1,500 in a few short weeks.
"We also participated in World Alzheimer's Day by wearing purple here at the facility."
In addition to the "pink glove" effort, Summerfield organized a display with information to increase awareness about breast cancer among staff and residents.
For more information on ERCC's initiatives to increase awareness of health care issues, call 304-636-1391.
