HILL AIR FORCE BASE — For the rest of this week, a mobile mammography unit will give women at Hill Air Force Base convenient access to the latest screening technology in a comfortable environment.

The unit is from University of Utah Huntsman Cancer Institute and will be providing mammograms from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 9. The unit is available not only to all Tricare beneficiaries, but to anyone with health insurance. To schedule an appointment, call the main MDG appointment line at 801-586-CARE (2273).

The effort was organized by Lt. Col. Stephanie Ellenburg, 75th Healthcare Operations Squadron Commander, in part because October is Breast Cancer Awareness, an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease.

“We also wanted to build partnerships with our local community healthcare providers,” Ellenburg said. “It provides a great service for our customers, and there is a wide demand for the mammogram services for our patients. With the Medical Group limited in providing this service in house, we are glad that we can work with our community partners and expand capabilities were we can.”

A mobile unit from Intermountain Healthcare will be at the clinic Nov. 9-10 and Nov. 12-13 to provide mammograms to any women who missed this week’s offering.

Mammograms help detect breast cancer at the earliest stages, when it’s the most treatable. One in 8 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, and is the most common cancer in American women except for skin cancers.