Free health exams in greater New Hampshire

Appointments are now available for free breast and cervical cancer screenings at the Health First Community Health Center in Franklin and the LRGHealthcare Facility in Laconia, among others. Individuals aged 21-64 who have no health insurance, or insurance that doesn’t pay for screening tests, are invited to call the centers to schedule an appointment.

To ensure the health and safety of patients and staff, all visitors are required to wear a mask at all times and will be screened for COVID-19 symptoms when they arrive for their appointment.

Regular screenings and follow-up care can help prevent or more effectively treat breast and cervical cancers. A screening test looks for signs of disease, such as cancer, before a person has symptoms. In its early stages, cancer is easier to treat.

“Preventive screenings can be literal life-savers,” said Adriane Burke, Cancer Programs Manager at the New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services within the NH Department of Health and Human Services. “Early detection is critical.”

When cancer is found at an early stage, people are much more likely to live, or survive. In fact, data shows a higher “five-year survival rate” — the percent of people who live at least 5 years after the cancer is found — in people who were diagnosed with early-stage breast and cervical cancer. According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Cancer Society:

Breast cancer five-year survival rate is 99% when it is detected at an early stage. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the United States and in New Hampshire.

Cervical cancer five-year survival rate is also high for early-stage detection, at more than 9 out of 10 (92%) living five years later. In contrast, the five-year survival rate for those with late-stage cervical cancer is 56%.

Call Health First Family Care Center at 603-934-1464x102 or LRGHealthcare, Laconia at 603-527-2861 to confirm you are eligible and make an appointment for the free screening.

For additional breast and cervical cancer screening sites throughout New Hampshire, call 603-271-4931.

Health First Family Care Center and LRGHealthcare Laconia are part of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, led by NH Healthy Lives and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since its inception in 1997, the NH Healthy Lives Breast and Cervical Cancer Program has provided more than 35,000 mammograms in NH.