Western Missouri Medical Center Celebrates ‘Ladies Night Out’

Western Missouri Medical Center (WMMC) celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness month by hosting its seventh annual Ladies’ Night Out Event on Oct. 15,in an effort to promote breast health awareness and encourage women to get their annual mammogram.

Over 475 people attended the sold-out event including ladies, volunteers, vendors, and speakers. Ladies’ Night Out provides breast health education while offering a fun night to be enlightened, pampered, and immersed in all things health and beauty. The goal of the event was to educate women on the importance of mammogram screenings and early detection. This event resulted in more than 120 women registering for their annual mammogram – 30 more women than last year.

Ladies’ Night Out also featured giveaways, cash bar, hor d'oeuvres, a photo booth, and a goodie bag for all attendees. Forty-six local vendors participated and each vendor donated either a giveaway item for all the attendees, a service such as a massage, or a gift to be raffled off.

The key note speakers of the night Seth Herrell and his daughter Madelyn spoke about their experience of losing their wife and mother Natasha to breast cancer. Amira Ghazali, M.D. was Natasha’s doctor, and followed Seth and Madelyn’s story with her own message on courage. She empowered all women to face breast cancer with courage and to get their mammogram.

This annual event strives for two goals – to raise awareness on the importance of preventative screenings, and to raise money to bring advanced cancer care, closer to home here in Johnson County. At the end of the event, Ladies’ Night Out raised $13,001 to be donated to WMMC Foundation’s Cancer Care Project. This project has helped purchase medical equipment used to detect and diagnose cancer, and remodel Family Comfort Suites.

Additionally, all of the early bird discounted tickets for “Fire & Ice: Great Gatsby” sold out, raising $4,500 to go towards the Foundation’s next project. This event, being held on Jan. 24, will feature a night of fun and your favorite casino games, live action dining stations, and an open bar.

At the end of the program, it was announced that there would be a drawing for a $1,000 raffle, donated by the G.R.O.W. with Mercy Foundation, for all who scheduled their mammogram that evening. The winner will be announced in the near future.

Also, women in Missouri have one less barrier in their fight against breast cancer. Effective Jan. 1, 2019, insurance providers were required to cover the cost of 3D mammography, also known as breast tomosynthesis. The new law also lowers, from 50 to 40, the age at which mammograms must be covered.

Please note: TRICARE covers 3D mammograms (digital breast tomosynthesis) for diagnostic purposes only. They aren’t covered for preventive screenings.

To schedule a mammogram, please call the WMMC Centralized Scheduling Department at (660) 262-7370.