KRH Unveils New Mammography Vehicle
On July 30, Kalispell Regional Healthcare (KRH) unveiled their new mobile mammography vehicle, Winkley Mobile Mammography, at a ribbon cutting event in Cut Bank. Equipped with up-to-date 3D technology, the new vehicle replaces the Winkley Women’s Center, which served communities across Montana for over 11 years.
The Winkley Women’s Center was introduced in 2008 and was named for local resident, philanthropist, and breast cancer survivor Jane Winkley, whose generosity made this program possible. The coach served patients from Eureka down to Polson, and multiple other communities along the hi-line as far as Malta. With 325,000 miles on the engine and a deteriorating body, it was no longer practical to invest in maintenance costs for the compromised structure. The 2D digital mammography equipment onboard the coach had become outdated as well.
The KRH Foundation set forth to raise just over a million dollars for a new vehicle back in spring of 2019. As a result, three Cut Bank middle schoolers—Jocelyn Taylor, Michaela Osborne, and Adysson Evans—held a bake sale at the Lewis and Clark Festival in July 2019 to help raise money for the service they knew was so essential to their community. In total, they raised $109.50 for the project. Inspired by their efforts, donors all across the state and beyond began donation in variations of that number, including checks for $10,950 and $100,109.50.
A $500,000 donation was made in fall of 2019 for the naming rights of the new vehicle, in which the anonymous donor humbly elected to name it “Winkley Mobile Mammography,” to continue honoring the legacy of Jane Winkley.
In honor of the movement inspired by the three girls, KRH decided to hold the ribbon cutting ceremony in Cut Bank so that they could be in attendance. Representatives from the KRH Foundation, Save a Sister program, and Northern Rockies Medical Center in Cut Bank spoke about the importance of the program's service and the effects it has on the hi-line communities. The event was capped off with a special honorary induction of Taylor, Osborne, and Evans into KRH’s Today’s Achievers, Tomorrow’s Leaders program, a recongition that comes with a $250 donation to a school program of each girl’s choosing.
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For more information about mobile mammography at Kalispell Regional Healthcare, visit our breast health page at https://www.krh.org/krmc/services/breast-health
