January 30, 2025
The Health Federation of Philadelphia, with funding support from Merck*, is launching a $1.5 million initiative to improve cancer screening outreach, navigation to care and outcomes, with a focus on breast and colorectal cancers among underserved populations in Philadelphia.
Through this partnership with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, the Health Federation, via targeted grant-making and a centralized infrastructure for screening outreach and navigation to care available to participating federally qualified health centers and their patients, will support community providers and the patients they serve. The Health Federation’s goals are to increase rates of guideline-recommended screening, follow-up diagnostic testing, and access to and engagement in high quality treatment.
“We are excited and grateful to launch this initiative, alongside many partners, to support Philadelphians who need assistance navigating our healthcare system’s challenging pathways, in the face of fears and stigma about cancer. We look forward to working across systems to make it a little bit easier for people to take care of their health,” said Suzanne Cohen, Senior Director of Population Health at the Health Federation.
From 2017-2022, breast cancer was the most diagnosed cancer for Pennsylvania women and the second leading cause of cancer mortality. While Black/African American women and White women have similar incidence rates for breast cancer, Black women in Pennsylvania have a significantly higher death rate, highlighting the need for additional screening and navigation to ensure early diagnosis and treatment.
Colorectal cancer is the fourth most diagnosed and fourth deadliest cancer in Pennsylvania. Notably, unlike with breast and cervical cancers, there is no state program to support uninsured Pennsylvanians who need testing or treatment when colorectal cancer is suspected. While incidence in Pennsylvania is similar across race and ethnicity, Black/African American people have a significantly lower five-year survival rate than White people.
In late October 2024, the Health Federation convened a meeting with 15 representatives from 11 Philadelphia-based institutions, who joined an interactive discussion on the barriers along the patient cancer journey and a vision for a new model to reduce disparities in screening, navigation to diagnostic testing, and to care for patients living with colorectal, breast, and cervical cancer.
Objectives of this initiative are to assess opportunities across the patient cancer journey, from screening through survivorship, to improve outcomes with an emphasis on addressing gaps in care; to develop a patient-centered, accountable, and streamlined care experience for communities disparately impacted by cancer; and finally, to build a replicable model for dissemination with an emphasis on sustainability.
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About the Health Federation of Philadelphia
The Health Federation of Philadelphia is a public health nonprofit that promotes health equity for marginalized communities by advancing access to high-quality, integrated, and comprehensive health and human services.
The Health Federation of Philadelphia serves as a keystone supporting a network of Community Health Centers as well as the broader base of public and private-sector organizations that deliver healthcare, public health and human services to vulnerable populations.
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*The activities discussed in this press release were supported by funding from Merck. Merck had no role on the design, collection analysis and interpretation of data, in writing of the press release, or in the decision to submit the press release for publication. The content of this press release is solely the responsibility of the author(s) and does not represent the views of Merck.
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