Daviess Community Hospital has received an award from the Indiana Cancer Consortium’s (ICC’s) Employer Gold Standard Initiative. The award is given to recognize employers who help establish the workplace as a primary setting to focus on early detection and appropriate screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers.
Sharon Mead, RN OCN, serves as the hospital’s Patient Navigator for the Oncology program. “DCH encourages employees to have preventive screenings and emphasizes the importance of early detection,” says Mead. “One of our employees who was reluctant to be screened was surprised when a cancer was detected during a screening. That employee admitted that they never would have taken the time to schedule the screening if it weren’t for the encouragement from the DCH team. I am very proud that DCH makes the health of their employees a top priority.”
According to the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Indiana ranks 43rd nationally in mammography screening for breast cancer, 47th in Pap tests for cervical cancer screening, and 41st for colorectal screening based on United States Preventive Task Force recommendations. Employers are uniquely positioned to improve our state screening rates by providing education, increasing awareness, and providing opportunity for early detection cancer screenings. In order to become an ICC Employer Gold Standard recognized organization, employers must meet a series of requirements based on national screening recommendations and best practices.
Criteria which qualifies an organization for the award include address at least two of the following cancers: breast, cervical, or colorectal and designing a cancer control and prevention action plan utilizing the suggested best practice resource provided by the ICC (technical assistance is provided).
