AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)– May is Women’s Health Awareness Month.

In 2022, Georgia senators Jon Osoff and Raphael Warnock secured $300,000,000 in federal funding to expand preventative healthcare access at two Georgia hospitals, including AU Health. This funding is a significant investment for AU Health, and will give more people access to preventative healthcare screenings, as well as improved children’s and women’s health.

And we’re talking about this surge in women’s health funding because May is Women’s Health Month. Caroline Sullivan is the lead technologist at Augusta University Health Imaging.

We know that the most important part of our health is prevention, so these screeningst can be a great lifesaver.

“Absolutely. You know, they say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! If anything caught early can be monumental in prognosis and just the rest of the lifespan. So we’ve got a plethora of screening exams offered. We do the mammography, screening mammograms, which you do not need an order for. You can walk in. It’s a very, very quick exam. Most of these screening exams are relatively quick, in and out.

“We also do the bone densities to check for osteoporosis or osteopenia, basically if your bones are getting brittle or not, if you’re at risk for one of those. We also do triple A ultrasounds, check in for the abdominal aortic aneurysm, another quick exam. And then we also have the CT calcium scoring, checking for coronary artery disease, basically if the arteries have calcium buildup or not. All of these things, if left untreated or undiagnosed, could be life-altering for sure.”

You do not need an order from your doctor for a mammogram, and there’s a special in May for Women’s Health Month.

“We’re offering mammograms for $99 the whole month of May. It’s a special cash pay option. You just come in for the scan and you’d get it done and you’d pay 99 bucks. That’s it. We follow the ACR, the American College of Radiology. That’s who has accredited our facility, and they still recommend starting at age 40 and every year after.”

Augusta University Health Imaging is located at 3722 Wheeler Road. Hours are 8:00am – 5:00pm. You can call 706-723-8860 and schedule an appointment, but walk-ins are accepted for certain exams.