By Sarah Green
KHI News Service
Sept. 14, 2009

PROTECTION — Kim Hazen is all too familiar with the limitations of the health care system in southwest Kansas.

A family history of cancer — her mother and grandmother both had forms of the disease — and a suspicious mammogram prompted her local physician to refer her to specialists in Wichita.

Each trip to the specialist’s office involves a day off work, six hours in the car and a stressful drive in Wichita’s traffic for someone unaccustomed to city traffic.

“Some of these towns (in southwest Kansas) don’t even have stoplights,” Hazen said.

And, of course, there is the worry of what the screening might detect.

“We’re so happy to have that service that we can go to, but to have that care available here would be really great,” she said.

Hazen is the president of the WEPAC alliance, a group that involves people from Wilmore, Englewood, Protection, Ashland and Coldwater.

The group is hosting a fund raising women’s basketball game and an educational forum in October in an effort to improve cancer screenings for women in the rural towns. Eventually, the group hopes to attract more cancer services — a mobile digital mammography machine, for example — to one of their communities.

Hazen is the office manager for Home Lumber and Supply in Ashland. She said she has health insurance, which has covered much of the costs related to her cancer screening. But others aren’t as lucky, she said.

“When we start talking about these screenings, they say they don’t go do it,” she said. “I get goose bumps when I hear women say they can’t afford it, or they can’t take the time off. When they do have a problem, and find out that they actually have cancer, they say ‘I should have gone six months ago.’ It breaks my heart.”

The communities in the alliance are supportive of the fundraising efforts and the education campaign, Hazen said. More than 30 people came to one of the first WEPAC meetings at a local church after hearing about it from friends and neighbors.

She said she was surprised at the level interest, but not surprised that people wanted to help.

“In our area, when a lady has a problem like this, we all know about it,” she said. “We all want to help take care of their kids or drive them to their appointments. My dad retired a couple years ago, and he drives ladies to Dodge City for chemotherapy. Sometimes you can’t drive or don’t have family to help you.  That’s a very nice thing about our community. It doesn’t matter who you are, we take care of you.”

-Sarah Green is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. She can be reached at sgreen@khi.org or at 785-233-5443, ext. 118.