Mobile Mammography Coach Celebrates 1,000th Screening

Cancer survivor encourages women to schedule annual mammogram screenings

Lindsey Bowden, 40, said she first learned of the Atrium Health Navicent Mobile Mammography Coach when she was scrolling through Facebook one day. That brief connection turned out to be an important one for her.

“It kind of prompted me. I knew I had just turned 40 and was going to need to get a mammogram, but I probably wouldn’t have done it as soon,” she said.

Bowden received a mammogram in the mobile unit in April during its visit to a senior living facility in Cochran, not far from her home.

“It was wonderful,” Bowden said. “It was quick, easy, in-and-out. The staff was great. The coach itself, I felt like it had plenty of room. It had its private changing room. The exam room with the equipment was spacious. Some people think an RV is confined, but I never felt that way.”

After her screening, she got a text with an option to sign up for the MyAtriumHealth patient portal. As a result, she received her results the next day. Her results came back abnormal.

“It was very shocking. When I made my initial appointment, I had no worries. Nothing crossed my mind. I just figured I’d get my mammogram, get my results and do it again next year,” Bowden said. She didn’t feel a lump or experience any symptoms.

She had additional imaging at Atrium Health Navicent The Breast Center, where a radiologist recommended a breast biopsy, which revealed she had stage 3 cancer. She then had a bilateral mastectomy in July performed by Dr. Arnold Conforti, an Atrium Health Navicent surgical oncologist. She is now cancer free.

“The care from top to bottom, from the physicians to the nutritional staff when I had my inpatient stay with my surgery, to environmental services, everybody has been wonderful,” said Bowden.

Bowden says she feels “very blessed and very thankful” that she didn’t delay scheduling her mammogram because if she had waited she might have had a different outcome.

She said she’s become an advocate for women to get their mammograms, and is helping spread the word about the mobile mammography coach. “I’ve been healthy my whole life,” she said. “If I hadn’t gotten the mammogram done, I wouldn’t have known.”

Atrium Health Navicent’s mobile mammography coach, funded by a congressional spending allocation, performed its 1,000th screening in August after first hitting the road in January 2025. In its first eight months, the coach has made life-changing screening services more accessible by traveling to businesses, churches, neighborhoods and other convenient locations throughout central and south Georgia.

The mobile facility offers a state-of-the-art, 3D digital breast imaging system that’s staffed by female technologists who are specially trained in screening mammography.

The experience lasts approximately 15 minutes and is similar to a physician’s appointment. Each screening is provided in a comfortable and private environment. Typically, mobile mammogram results will be returned within about two business days. If additional screening is needed, patients will be scheduled promptly for a follow-up appointment.

Accounting for about 30 percent of all new female cancers each year, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among American women. It’s recommended that all women have a baseline screening mammogram at age 40, and in some cases, women between the ages of 35 and 39 may also need a baseline mammogram.

Businesses and organizations interested in scheduling a visit by the mobile mammography coach are asked to call 478-633-2003.

The mobile mammography coach is scheduled to offer screenings at the following locations in September and October:

September

• 9/20: Family Fun Day: Atrium Health Navicent partnering with Macon Volunteer Clinic, Macon Bacon and Dr. Samar Othman with Advanced Dental Arts, Luther Williams Field, 225 Willie Smokie Glover Drive, Macon,10 a.m.- 2p.m.
• 9/23: Houston County Health Department, 98 Cohen Walker Drive, Warner Robins, 8a.m.- 4:30 p.m.
• 9/25: Medical Center LLP, 908 Hillcrest Parkway, Dublin, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• 927: United in Pink, Mobile 5K Pinkout, 5671 Calvin Drive, Macon, in the Cross Country parking lot, 8 a.m. – 11 p.m.
• 9/27: Sheba's Oil, Robert F Hatcher Sr Conference Center, 100 University Parkway, Macon, 1p.m.- 4 p.m.

October

• 10/2: Atrium Health Navicent Primary Care and Occupational Medicine, 113 Willie Lee Pkwy, Warner Robins Warner Robins, 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
• 10/3: Peach County Health Department, 503 Bluebird Blvd., Fort Valley, 1 p.m. - 6 p.m.
• 10/7: Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin, 821 N. Cobb St., 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
• 10/8: Atrium Health Navicent Primary Care West, 3780 Eisenhower Pkwy., Macon, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• 10/9: Preston Williams Center, 700 Vienna Road, Montezuma, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
• 10/11: Macedonia Church, 600 Eisenhower Pkwy., Macon, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
• 10/12: Bibb Mt Zion Baptist Church 3268 Avondale Mill Road, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
• 10/14: Atrium Health Navicent Primary Care Fort Valley, 201 Avera Drive, Fort Valley, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• 10/15: Hartley Elementary School, 2230 Anthony Road, Macon, 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.
• 10/16: At Home Senior Living of Cochran, 147 S. Sixth St., Cochran, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• 10/17: Central State Hospital, 171 Allen Road, Milledgeville, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• 10/18: House of Hope 1909 Woodland Drive Macon Ga 10am-2pm
• 10/20: City of Tennille 106 Park Street Tennille Ga 11am-6pm
• 10/21: Houston County Health Department, 98 Cohen Walker Drive, Warner Robins, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• 10/22: Telfair County, 91 Telfair Ave, McRae 9am-2pm
• 10/23: Atrium Health Navicent Primary Care Internal Medicine Baldwin, 2803 N. Columbia St., Milledgeville, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• 10/25: Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 809 S. Davis Drive, Warner Robins, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

About Atrium Health Navicent

Atrium Health Navicent is the leading provider of health care in central and south Georgia and is committed to its mission of elevating health and well-being through compassionate care. Atrium Health Navicent is part of Advocate Health, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Navicent provides high-quality, personalized care in 53 specialties at more than 50 facilities throughout the region. As part of the largest, integrated, nonprofit health system in the Southeast, it is also able to tap into some of the nation’s leading medical experts and specialists with Atrium Health, allowing it to provide the best care close to home – including advanced innovations in virtual medicine and care. Throughout its 130-year history in the community, Atrium Health Navicent has remained dedicated to enhancing health and wellness for individuals throughout the region through nationally recognized quality care, community health initiatives and collaborative partnerships. It is also one of the leading teaching hospitals in the region, helping to ensure viability for rural health care for the next generation. For more information, please visit www.NavicentHealth.org.

About Advocate Health

Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit, integrated health system in the United States, created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois; Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama; and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Advocate Health is nationally recognized for its expertise in heart and vascular, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs more than 160,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations, and offers one of the nation’s largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to redefining care for all, Advocate Health provides more than $6 billion in annual community benefits.