The Colon Cancer Coalition has awarded HealthFirst Family Care Center a grant to fund a colon cancer screening program in central New Hampshire. The money for this grant comes from funds that were raised during the 2015 Get Your Rear in Gear® – New Hampshire 5K Run/Walk and Janice Coburn 1.5 Mile Memory Walk.
HealthFirst Family Care Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center that covers a five-county service area in central New Hampshire, with a population of approximately 2,063 people aged 50-75 years. HealthFirst provides primary healthcare services through an intervention, prevention, and education model following that of a Health Home and Community Health Center.
Federal Health R
esources and Services Administration data for 2015 indicates that 91.8% of HealthFirst patients are at or below 200% of poverty and their colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rate is 30%. HealthFirst is actively working to increase the CRC screening rate by increasing the percentage of average risk patients who are offered a postage-paid, take home fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit.
The 2016 Get Your Rear in Gear – New Hampshire is scheduled for Saturday, September 24 at Gould Hill Farm in Hopkinton. For more information or to register, visit the event page.
