A generous grant, courtesy of a late Wilmington philanthropist, supports the fight against late-stage breast cancer diagnosis

Home / A generous grant, courtesy of a late Wilmington philanthropist, supports the fight against late-stage breast cancer diagnosis

This summer, the Breast Imaging Center at Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center (NHMBC) will start to see reduced wait times between appointments for diagnostic mammograms, ultrasounds and biopsies, thanks to a generous grant from a late Wilmington philanthropist.

The Louise Oriole Burevitch Endowment, a component of the North Carolina Community Foundation, gave the Breast Imaging Center a $15,000 grant to help fund the purchase of a portable breast ultrasound scanner and iPad. The NHBMC Foundation will contribute additional funds toward the total cost of the system.

The new system will be in service by July 2020 and will provide diagnostic mammograms for women who are having breast issues or whose screening results indicate abnormalities. The Breast Imaging Center operates the only mobile mammography unit in Brunswick County and serves more than 650 patients monthly with screening and diagnostic mammograms, ultrasounds and biopsies. The scanner will allow the center staff to serve more of those patients faster, which will help decrease late-stage diagnosis and, ultimately, reduce breast cancer mortality.

“We are sincerely grateful for this partnership with the North Carolina Community Foundation and the Louise Oriole Burevitch Endowment,” said Cynthia Cheatham, NHBMC Foundation development program manager. “Mrs. Burevitch’s compassionate, forward-looking generosity will help us provide the best in breast health care for the people of Brunswick County and surrounding communities.”

Before she passed away in 2014, Louise Oriole Burevitch gave generously to organizations in her community, with much of that giving focused on issues related to women and children. During her life, she never sought the spotlight for her charitable efforts. Instead, she lived modestly and earmarked the bulk of her estate for charitable purposes, including the $20 million endowment administered by the North Carolina Community Foundation.

The foundation has administered more than $161 million in grants since its inception in 1988.