Alberta's Screen Test program hits 575,000 mammograms over 35 years
Primary Care Alberta says the Screen Test mobile mammography program began with offices in Calgary and Edmonton in 1990 before its first community visit to Hinton in 1991.
Why it matters
The program gives rural and remote Albertans access to breast cancer screening without long-distance travel to major cities.
Primary Care Alberta is marking 35 years of its Screen Test mobile mammography program, which has now completed more than 575,000 mammograms across the province. The program started in 1990 with permanent offices in Calgary and Edmonton, then made its first mobile community stop in Hinton on Sept. 18, 1991, visiting 26 communities in its first year. Two mobile units now travel to about 120 communities annually, screening as many as 15,000 clients a year.
Between October 1990 and January 2025, the program detected 28,068 abnormalities requiring further testing and identified more than 3,100 breast cancers. Minister of Primary and Preventive Health Services Justin Wright said breast cancer is the most common cancer among Alberta women, and mobile screening cuts travel time and costs for those in rural communities.
Colleen Waters, a three-time breast cancer survivor and retired Screen Test staff member, said she has experienced the program from both sides and has seen its impact on herself, her family and her community. Primary Care Alberta CEO Kimberley Simmonds said many mobile clients have told the program they would not get regular screening without the mobile units.
Women aged 40 to 74 are encouraged to discuss their breast cancer risk with a health-care provider to decide whether screening is appropriate, and returning clients are notified about six weeks before a mobile unit visits their community. Appointments can be booked by calling 1-800-667-0604.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.