Garden Grove, California (November 14, 2015) — Did you know?  Among all ethnic women in the U.S., that Vietnamese-American women have some of the highest rates of cervical and breast cancers?  The reasons for this are multi-fold.  Namely, cervical cancer is predominantly, a result of a sexually transmitted virus that causes a chronic infection and irritation to the female cervix. This prevalent virus is called the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

HPV is transmitted sexually from men to women.  Because HPV is endemic in the Asian Pacific Islander community (and in particular, among Vietnamese Americans), it is the cause for the high incidence of cervical cancer in this ethnic minority community.

To address this higher prevalence of cervical and breast cancers in the Vietnamese community, the Viet Namese Community of Orange County (VNCOC, Inc.) is hosting an innovative one day, free cervical and breast cancer screening health fair called “See, Test and Treat,” targeting higher risk women who are low-income and/or uninsured on Saturday, November 14th, from 8:30am to 3:00pm at their Southland Health Center.  

Located in Garden Grove at 9862 Chapman Avenue, Suite B, cross-street Brookhurst Street, (next door to the 24 hour CVS Pharmacy), Southland Health Center is where many ethnic enclaves converge:   Little Saigon, Korea-town-Garden Grove, Santa Ana (Latino) and Little Arabia, Anaheim (Muslim).  Hence, Southland Health Center is in a prime location to serve the healthcare needs of these richly diverse immigrant communities in the O.C.

See, Test and Treat is an innovative community health program offered by VNCOC in collaboration with the College of American Pathologists (CAP)  and CAP Foundation.  It is made possible by a generous grant from CAP Foundation and in-kind donations of industry sponsors including CooperSurgical, Hologic, Pathology, Inc.; Huntington Beach Hospital and Alinea Medical Imaging.

See, Test and Treat is an “all-inclusive, under one roof” project.  Within the span of 7 hours, low-income, uninsured women will have the unique opportunity (by appointment preferably) to be examined by Southland Health Center primary care providers, lead by Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Mai-Phương Nguyễn (internal medicine).  The PCP care team will take relevant histories then perform Clinical Breast Exams and Pelvic exams including Papanicolaou (Pap) smears to screen for abnormal cervical cells.

These PAP smears will be turned over to an on-site pathology team headed by Dr. Sĩ Văn Nguyễn of Huntington Beach Hospital.   Within 90-120 minutes process, Dr. Sĩ and his pathology team will be able to give the patients their Pap smear results.  Upon request, he is able to review their abnormal slides and cells under microscopes with the patients.

It is estimated that 10% of all Pap smears will yield an abnormal Pap result.   If an abnormal Pap is identified, there will be 2 volunteer gynecologists (Drs. Thomas Trí Quách and Kevin Khải Tiêu) on hand to further work-up the abnormal Pap smears.  These gynecologists will be able to perform more in-depth testing via colposcopy and biopsy any abnormalities found.  The biopsies can thereafter be prepped and reviewed by the pathology team on-site to ascertain their severity.

For the women whose Pap smears yield worrisome findings, Drs. Quách and Tiêu will see them in their offices for treatment on follow-up.  For those who are uninsured, VNCOC’s certified health insurance counselors will help to enroll them into a health insurance plan for which they qualify, such as Medicaid or Covered California.  This will enable them to access other advanced surgical therapies and treatment options as indicated, as well as essential preventive, primary care services.

While the scheduled patients await their Pap smear results, they will also have the opportunity to get free breast cancer screening mammograms.  In partnership with Alinea Medical Imaging based in Santa Ana, and funded by the “Every Woman Counts” program, those women from ages 40-64, can update their mammograms.  Alinea Medical Imaging’s radiology team headed by CEO and Medical Director Dr. Monish Laxpati, MD will read all the mammograms.  Southland Health Center’s primary care team will follow up on any abnormal findings on these mammograms.

According to the latest October 2015 recommendations by the American Cancer Society, women ages 40-50 years old should consider getting a mammogram only if they are at higher risk for breast cancer.  Higher risk factors for breast disease include: family or personal history of breast cancer, smoking, obesity or history of consuming high saturated-fat diets.  Also, the women should not have had a mammogram within the last year (i.e. since November 2014).

Also while waiting for their Pap results, the women patients (and their families) can be educated by the lead physicians, Drs. Mai-Phương Nguyễn (fluent in Spanish and Vietnamese), Thomas Trí Quách and Kevin Khai Tiêu (both speak Vietnamese and English).  These patient advocates will give 10-15 minutes health ‘charlas’ or in-language talks on healthy diet, nutrition, smoking cessation and exercise in addition to presentations on the importance of regular breast and cervical cancer screenings via mammograms and Pap smears.

Orange County is home to the largest Overseas Vietnamese community in the world. The Southland Health Center is a NCQA Level III Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) that is distinctly qualified to coordinate the care of complex patients in a culturally-competent and linguistically-appropriate manner.

The Vietnamese Community of Orange County (VNCOC, Inc) is a non-profit health and human agency that was founded in 1979 to meet the vast social needs of the influx of Vietnamese refugees coming to Southern California following the end of the Viet Nam War post-1975. Since 1997, VNCOC has expanded its social services to include primary, dental and mental healthcare services to meet the growing healthcare needs of this large immigrant population.  In the post-Affordable Care Act era since 2012, VNCOC’s Southland Health Center serves all-comers, regardless of insurance or immigration status or ethnicity.

To schedule an appointment at See, Test and Treat Women’s Health Fair, please call  714.640.3470 or email info@thevncoc.org.   For more information, visit http://www.theVNCOC.org.