TidalHealth unveils mobile mammography unit

CRISFIELD, Md. — TidalHealth has officially unveiled its mobile mammography unit, a 38-foot rolling imaging center that will bring breast cancer screenings to women across Delmarva.

TidalHealth launched its Drive for Mobile Mammography campaign two years ago and reached its fundraising goal of $1 million last month. The van will help women in medically underserved communities on Delmarva access critical breast cancer screenings.

“It’s critically important to the health care journey — the sooner you know something, the sooner we can take care of it,” said Katherine Fiddler, TidalHealth vice president of population health. “As a breast cancer survivor, I had the luxury of being screened and having breast cancer detected early. I think it’s important for every woman to know, and we’re very excited that we have this opportunity to have this access.”

TidalHealth is using advanced technologies to determine which communities have the highest medical needs.

“We’re doing a lot of work with GIS mapping to understand where women are accessing care and where they aren’t,” Fiddler said.

TidalHealth team members say fundraising was a community effort, and they intended for it to be that way.

“We wanted to do it $1 at a time to make everyone feel like they had the opportunity to make a difference with just a dollar,” said Jessica Hales, TidalHealth chief philanthropy officer.

“We started with the TidalHealth team members, and we raised $125,000 in one month, and that kind of kick-started the campaign and it just really took off from there,” Hales said.

TidalHealth also launched the Sheila Zimmer Breast Screenings Fund, which will help patients in need cover the cost of their care up to diagnosis.

“That’s our next endeavor, to continue to raise money for that. So we’re really excited to see such backing and support for this initiative,” Hales said.

TidalHealth expects the van to begin serving the community by early 2026.