North Fulton Regional Hospital has developed a novel approach to help women focus on their breast health this October. The hospital asks women to “Picture Yourself Healthy,” encouraging each to take the one picture that could save her life – a mammogram.

     Picture Yourself Healthy was created by North Fulton Regional Hospital and its sister hospitals as part of a national campaign to promote early detection and testing that could save the lives of the approximately 180,000 women who are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.

     The hospital will unveil the campaign’s symbol during a special hospital kick-off ceremony at 3 p.m. on Monday, October 1, 2007. CEO Joe Austin will be joined by breast cancer survivors who work and volunteer at North Fulton Regional Hospital to raise awareness about breast cancer and the resources available to detect and fight it in the Atlanta area.

     “Picture Yourself Healthy is about more than just remembering to get a mammogram,” Austin explains. “It’s about women keeping themselves in the picture and making their health just as much of a priority as are their families and careers.”

     During October, North Fulton Regional Hospital will be doing the following in support of the campaign:

• Provide opportunities throughout the hospital campus for employees and visitors to participate in the campaign, including decoration of Breast Cancer Survivor Frames (located in the 2500 Medical Office Building, main hospital Atrium and Northwoods Imaging Center in Cumming).
• Provide discounted mammograms at Northwoods Imaging Center in Cumming.
• Participate in Breast Cancer Awareness health events throughout the community.
• Host the Inaugural Picture Yourself Healthy Seminar, a free event at the hospital geared toward motivation, education and prevention of breast cancer.

     North Fulton Regional Hospital also offers year-round women’s health and imaging services, such as mammography, ultrasound, biopsy and MRI and regular events such as the many prenatal education classes and community health fairs.

     According to the American Cancer Society, more than 1,500 people die each day in the U.S. from cancer. Approximately 559,650 Americans are expected to succumb to the disease this year – one of every four deaths nationwide. Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths among women with an estimated 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer among women being forecasted just for this year. Approximately 40,460 women will die from the disease.

     North Fulton Regional Hospital (NFRH), part of Tenet Georgia, is a 167-bed, acute-care
hospital located on Highway 9, Alpharetta Highway, in Roswell. Opened in 1983, NFRH serves North Fulton and surrounding counties through its team of over 1000 employees, 400 staff physicians and 200 volunteers. NFRH is a state-designated Level II trauma center and provides a continuum of services through its centers and programs, including neurosciences, orthopedics, rehabilitation, surgical services, bariatric surgical weight loss, gastroenterology and oncology. The hospital is fully accredited and also is certified as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.

     For more information about the Picture Yourself Healthy campaign at North Fulton Regional Hospital, call 770-751-2660 or visit us on the web at www.northfultonregional.com/breasthealth.