Accelerating cancer screening - for 42 years, sea MAR community health centers has served the community by providing primary and ancillary health care services in western washington

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded a $500,000 Project Grant under the Health Center Program (CFDA 93.224) to Sea Mar Community Health Centers, a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center in Seattle, WA. The funding will be used to improve breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening rates among Sea Mar's patient population, which primarily consists of low-income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals. Sea Mar will collaborate with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and utilize trained patient navigators and outreach specialists to close the cancer screening gaps for its diverse, medically underserved communities across 11 counties in Western Washington. The award period is from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2026.

Within its scope of project, sea MAR operates 39 medical, 29 dental, and 38 behavioral health clinics in 11 counties. In 2020, sea MAR served 227,671 unduplicated patients throughout its service area, the majority of whom live below the federal poverty level and are uninsured, underinsured or receive medicaid. Sea MAR is applying for hrsa FY22 accelerated cancer screening funding to improve patients' breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening rates. There has been an increase of availability of reproductive and colorectal cancer screenings in the united states; however many groups of people remain underserved with respect to national guidelines for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screenings. Community health centers like sea MAR provide an avenue for underserved and low-income populations to receive essential primary care services, but many of these health centers still struggle to achieve population-based screening. To address this need, sea MAR will utilize collaborate with NCI-designated cancer center fred hutchinson cancer research center and utilize trained patient navigators and outreach specialists to close the breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening gaps for its patient population.