EARLY DETECTION
SAVES LIVES
Virtua provides people who are uninsured or underinsured
with life-saving, early cancer detection screenings, through
the New Jersey CEED (Cancer Education & Early
Detection) Program.
There is significant evidence that the detection of cancer in its
earliest stages gives patients the best chance at beating the
disease with proper treatment. Unfortunately, early detection
screenings are not always covered by insurance and many who
need them have no health insurance at all.
“People who have no health insurance are much more likely to
be diagnosed with cancer in its later stages,” said Joan
Lombardi, RN, the manager of Virtua’s NJ CEED program.
“There’s no doubt that these screenings are saving lives.”
The New Jersey CEED Program at Virtua provides cancer
screenings for Burlington and Camden County residents who
are between the ages of 18 and 64 and are uninsured or
underinsured, and not able to afford the screenings they need.
Each year, New Jersey CEED screens nearly 500 people for
cancers including cervical, prostate, colon and breast, and
many of those people come back for regular screenings year
after year.
“We cannot prevent someone from getting cancer, but those
who stay with our program each year have the same chance as
having early detection as anyone who has private insurance,”
said Lombardi. “We had a woman last year who has had
mammograms through us for six years, and on the sixth year
she was diagnosed with a very early stage of breast cancer.”
GIFTS IN SUPPORT OF THE EARLY DETECTION SCREENING
PROGRAM HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON MANY LIVES. A
GIFT OF $5,000 HELPS 20 PEOPLE WHO OTHERWISE
WOULD NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO FIND THEIR
CANCER IN THE EARLY STAGES.
While many of the screenings through this program are
used to detect breast cancer in women, Lombardi said
there is a large need to fill the funding gaps to detect
colon cancer in men and women over age 50.
In 2012, Liberty Property Trust directed
funds from their annual 5K to support
early detection efforts through Virtua
Foundation. They raised more than
$17,000, which will have a powerful
impact on Virtua’s effort to save lives
through early screenings.
“When community partners like
Liberty Property Trust donate money,
we’re able to expand our services to more
people,” Lombardi said. “It has a direct impact
on the service we’re able to provide.”
LIBERTY PROPERTY TRUST
A VALUED PARTNER
For the past three years, Liberty Property Trust has stepped
up to the starting line to raise significant support for the
Virtua Fox Chase Cancer Program through their annual 5K
race in Marlton.
Over the past three years, they have contributed more than
$25,000 to support patients undergoing any cancer
treatments across Virtua’s continuum of care. In 2012,
the group tripled the funds it has raised during past 5K
events and presented Virtua Foundation with a check for
$17,000 from the year’s race.
“Liberty Property Trust is proud of our longstanding
commitment to the southern New Jersey community
and to our support of cancer research and
treatment in particular, “said Mark Goldstein,
vice president, Liberty Property Trust.
Inspired by the need to provide cancer screenings
for those in the community who cannot afford it,
Liberty Property Trust directed their funds from the 2012
5K to support Virtua’s early detection efforts through
the New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection
(CEED) Program.
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