East Side Endoscopy, LLC, an affiliate of Mount Sinai Beth Israel, provided 253 free colonoscopies to underserved patients in New York City last year, through its special charity program that was established in 2012 in partnership with the American Cancer Society and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The East Side Endoscopy Charity Program serves patients with no insurance and limited access to health care who otherwise would not seek screening services.

“Our goal is to increase screening colonoscopy rates for the population served by the Mount Sinai Health System,” says Brett Bernstein, MD, Medical Director of East Side Endoscopy, and Director of Clinical Integration for Endoscopy and Gastroenterology at the Mount Sinai Health System. “To be able to give back to the community in this way has been very gratifying.”

Uninsured patients are referred to the program by Federally Qualified Community Health Centers (FQHC).

The Charity Program depends upon the donated services of physicians, patient navigators, nurses, and administrative staff. These donations totaled more than $1.1 million last year, according to Dr. Bernstein.

During a colonoscopy, which takes about 30 minutes, the physician closely examines the inside of a patient’s colon and rectum, looking for polyps that could be early signs of cancer and relatively easy to treat. The American Cancer Society and health care providers recommend the procedure once every 10 years for patients age 50 and over who are not at high risk for developing colon cancer.

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