The University of Alabama at Birmingham will offer free colonoscopies to select patients of the Cooper Green Mercy Health Service Authority through a grant from the Alabama Department of Public Health as part of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. There will be 200 colorectal cancer screenings for uninsured or low-income Jefferson County residents from the ages of 45 to 75.

First, the individual would need to be enrolled as a patient of Cooper Green and then talk to their primary care provider at Cooper Green for a referral to the colonoscopy program, according to UAB.

“Our mission at UAB has been focused on combating health disparities in our community,” said Robert H. Hollis, M.D. in a press release, assistant professor in the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery in the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine. “March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and with this grant we will be able to provide essential screenings that can prevent and reduce the morbidity of colorectal cancer.”

“Only 26 percent of uninsured patients who meet screening criteria report having had a colonoscopy in the past 10 years compared to 60 percent of privately insured patients, according to data from the National Health Interview Survey,” said Adam Edwards, M.D. in a press release, assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the Department of Medicine. “Jefferson County has approximately 90,000 patients living below the federal poverty line, putting many patients at high risk of not receiving appropriate screenings.”

Cooper Green is associated with the UAB Health System. Over the past five years more than 300 Cooper Green patients HAVE had colonoscopies at UAB. The ADPH- funded screening will be for eligible patients that will be referred by Cooper Green primary care physicians and reviewed at Copper Green by UAB gastroenterologist Patricia Ajayi-Fox, M.D preceding to head to the UAB Digestive Health Center. The colonoscopy will take place at the Endoscopy Center of the Kirklin Clinic of UAB Hospital. The colonoscopy preparation kit will be provided for free. Eligible patients will be accepted around September 2023.

“This is an important initiative to break down barriers that can stand in the way of underinsured or uninsured patients from getting the colon cancer screening they need,” said Raegan Durant, M.D. in a press release, medical director for Cooper Green. “Our thanks to the Alabama Department of Public Health for the funding support and the UAB Digestive Health Center for taking the lead on this vital project.”