News

Progress for Prostate Golf Tournament Raises $22,000 to Fight Cancer

09/10/08

The 5th Annual Progress for Prostate Golf Tournament raised $22,000 to support Beebe Medical Center's free prostate cancer screenings and education efforts. The annual tournament takes place each July at the Cripple Creek Golf & Country Club in Dagsboro.

Prostate Cancer takes the lives of more than 30,000 men each year, says Bob Davis, Founder and Chairman of the tournament. Early detection via screening is the secret to survival. We are proud to have raised more than $110,000 to support the free screenings and other prostate-cancer related outreach that Beebe Medical Center has brought to our community.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer, other than skin cancers, in American men, according to the American Cancer Society. One out of every six men will get prostate cancer, and an estimated 28,660 men in the United States will die of prostate cancer this year. Prostate cancer accounts for about 10% of cancer-related deaths in men.
Yet, if their cancer is detected and treated early, most of them will survive.

Each September, National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Beebe Medical Center draws attention to this disease by offering free prostate cancer screenings, which take place at Tunnell Cancer Center. Beebe Medical Center urologists volunteer their time to do the screenings. This year, the free screening will take place September 24, 2008. To make an appointment, call Linda Roberts at (302) 645-3300, ext. 2427.

Throughout the year, Cathy Ward, RN, Beebe Medical Center's Cancer Screening Nurse Navigator, also educates the community about prostate cancer and aides men in obtaining screenings and paying for treatment when necessary.

The chances for long-term survival with a good quality of life vastly increase when the diagnosis of prostate cancer is made early, says Cathy Ward, Beebe Medical Center's Cancer Screening Nurse Navigator.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), men should get a prostate-specific antigen blood test (PSA) and digital rectal exam (DRE) yearly beginning at age 50. Men at high risk should begin testing at age 45. Men at high risk include African-American men and men who have a close relative (father, brother, or son) who had prostate cancer before age 65. Men at even higher risk (because they have several close relatives with prostate cancer at an early age) should begin testing at age 40. Depending on the results of the first tests, they might not need more testing until age 45.

Caption: The Progress for Prostate Committee presents the check to Jeffrey M. Fried, CEO and President of Beebe Medical Center. Left to right: Karen Verasco, Ray Aumiller, State Representative Gerald Hocker, who served as Honorary Chairman of the tournament, Jim Scott, Jeffrey M. Fried, Sue Clarke, Bob Davis, Glenn Chisholm, Judie Davis and Bill Clarke.

Beebe Medical Center is a not-for-profit community medical center with a charitable mission to encourage healthy living, prevent illness, and restore optimal health with the people residing, working, or visiting in the communities we serve. For more information, please visit us online at www.beebemed.org