The Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center and East Stroudsburg University Health Services kick off Breast Cancer Awareness Month with the 16th Annual Pink Light Walk

Photo Caption: Participants from last year’s Pink Light Walk make their way from East Stroudsburg University to Pocono Medical Center. This year’s walk is set for October 6.

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU) and Pocono Medical Center (PMC) will host the 16th annual Pink Light Walk on Thursday, October 6 at 6 p.m. In collaboration with PMC’s Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center, ESU Health Services, the American Cancer Society and Prime Time Health of Monroe County’s Area Agency on Aging, the walk is held each year to increase awareness for breast cancer during the month of October.

This year’s Pink Light Walk is organized by PMC’s Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center’s Breast Health Nurse Navigator, Lutchana Beckford, ESU’s director of health services, Maria Hackney, and a committee from both organizations and other members from the community. “As a long-standing tradition for Pocono Medical Center, the walk serves as a movement to unite those of the community battling breast cancer, survivors of breast cancer, or those interested in supporting breast cancer awareness to walk in unison,” said Beckford.

Prior to the walk, at 5 p.m., education tables with interactive programs and information regarding Pocono Medical Center’s free mammogram voucher program service will be held in the ESU Science and Technology Center on Normal Street. The Pink Light Walk will begin from there at 6 p.m. and will end at the Dale and Frances Hughes Cancer Center located on 181 East Brown Street, East Stroudsburg, where there will be refreshments and a speech by breast cancer survivor and honorary chair of this year’s committee, Joan Hannig.

After her experiences battling cancer Hannig felt the need to help patients facing the same diagnosis. “I want to help ease their fears and lessen their anxieties,” Hannig said. “I want patients to meet someone who understands their feelings because they have walked in their shoes.” Hannig, a volunteer at the cancer center, will speak to the importance of building a support unit for of each breast cancer patient’s road to recovery.

East Stroudsburg University, a comprehensive university in northeastern Pennsylvania offering 56 undergraduate and 24 graduate degrees, is one of the 14 institutions in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. ESU offers various degrees in health-related fields including nursing, public health, health education, exercise science, athletic training as well as pre-medicine, pre-physical therapy, and pre-physician assistant concentrations.

Pocono Medical Center is a non-profit, nationally recognized hospital that has served the region for over 100 years. PMC has three comprehensive healthcare centers located in Bartonsville, Tobyhanna, and Brodheadsville, and 21 primary and specialty care physician practices. PMC has one of the busiest and most-experienced emergency departments in the state with a fully-accredited Level III Trauma Center, Joint Commission Certified Primary Stroke Center and Hip and Knee Program. Backed by the region’s most robust team of over 230 physicians and providers, PMC offers a full continuum of care from clinical and acute care services to specialized services such as the state-of-the art cancer center and comprehensive cardiovascular care. PMC and the Pocono Health System Visiting Nurse and Hospice both received a 4-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ranking PMC in the top 20% in the nation. PMC also serves as a designated, regional leader in safety as one of only 33 hospitals in Pennsylvania to receive an “A” rating from the Leapfrog Group and as recipient of the Healthgrades 2016 Patient Safety Award.

For more information or to learn more, please visit our website at http://www.poconohealthsystem.org/.

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