Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center spent 2019 preparing its second Sylvester Game Changer vehicle to deliver much-needed cancer screenings and education. The mobile cancer screening and health information unit will reach underserved populations in Monroe County, in the Florida Keys.

Sylvester launched its first vehicle in 2018 to serve people in Miami-Dade. So far, the Miami-Dade Game Changer has reached more than 30,000 patients who might not have otherwise had access to cancer screenings and education. One-third, about 10,000, of those patients have been screened.

The new vehicle, funded in 2019 by Florida Blue, provides screenings for colorectal, cervical, and skin cancers, as well as HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The Monroe vehicle will do its part to prevent cancers by prescribing pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) for people at high risk for HIV and offering young people the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Game Changer health care staff will help patients continue their care by providing navigation services to community partners for follow-up and other important services, such as low- or no-cost mammography and smoking cessation.

“The Game Changer is closing gaps in accessing cancer education, screenings, and breaking down historical skepticism about research. It’s providing an avenue for people in the community to inform Sylvester investigators how this experience affects cancer risk and outcomes,” said Erin Kobetz, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate director of population science and cancer disparities at Sylvester. “A second vehicle provides a wider reach and shows South Florida that we are truly committed to being a cancer center worthy of NCI designation and to fulfilling our obligation to being a partner and working alongside our community to address and eliminate cancer disparities.”

Sylvester’s Game Changer program was born out of the NCI’s requirement for NCI-designated cancer centers to emphasize community outreach and engagement, as well as feedback from Sylvester’s community partners that if the Cancer Center really wanted to be on the front lines of health equity, it needed a physical presence in communities with high cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality.

Florida Blue earmarked the Monroe Game Changer to meet what the insurer says is an important need in South Florida. Trained community health workers and an advanced practice nurse will start their journey on the Keys’ Overseas Highway to provide cancer screenings and education in 2020.

“The focus in 2019 was on building the Game Changer to serve its purpose as a state-of-the-art mobile health care facility that takes cancer care to those who need it most. We established relationships with community partners in Monroe and hired and trained the team that’s going to staff the Monroe Game Changer. We’ve identified clinical partners who are a necessary source of follow up and routine care for individuals who interact with the vehicle,” Dr. Kobetz said. “Early cancer detection is crucial for improving outcomes in underserved areas. The Game Changers are helping us to do just that.”