Ventura, CA. - Community Memorial Health System is offering free mammograms and healthcare education to the first 35 women who qualify at its Ventura Center for Family Health Main Street office on Saturday, Oct. 17.

The women will arrive early at the CFH office at 138 W. Main St., Suite E, where they will be transported to The Breast Center at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, and then back to the CFH office.

In 2008, an estimated 182,460 new cases of breast cancer occurred in the United States, and early detection and awareness is the key to fighting this life-threatening disease. The Healthy Women’s Program provided through Community Memorial Health System benefits women in the community who are uninsured, under-insured or lack the funds to pay for mammograms and follow-up treatment, if necessary.

“These women have nowhere else in the county to go to get these services; that’s why they come to us,” said Petra Luna, education manager for Centers for Family Health.

The Healthy Women’s Program is made possible through funds raised by the Community Memorial Healthcare Foundation’s annual Gold Dust Gala, along with the generous support of the Wallis Foundation.

To find out if you qualify for this program, call 805/651-2661. For more information on the Healthy Women’s Program visit www.cmhshealth.org/outreach.