Mobile cancer clinic opens to help detect cancer earlier, save lives in rural Utah

PAYSON — Karen Huntsman said she would do anything to spread the message that early cancer detection saves lives — and that includes riding on a cancer screening bus she helped launch on Monday.

Speaking at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the mobile cancer screening clinic in Payson, Huntsman noted that her husband's mother died four years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. After her husband, Jon Huntsman, got cancer, she said he told her he was giving $10 million to the fight against cancer. Since then, Karen Huntsman says even she has been through cancer treatments.

The front of the bus, or cancer screening clinic, has seats that rotate, creating areas where staff can privately meet with patients. The bus also has two changing rooms, a waiting area, an area for the cancer scans to be performed, a break room for staff and a device to send information from anywhere in the state.

Peter Huntsman said this second mobile screening unit is just a "downpayment," saying the Huntsman Foundation intends to implement AI features and provide instantaneous readings in more clinics and do more for rural areas.

He said people who live 20 miles south of Payson can have a 20% lower chance of survival than people who live within a few miles of the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. For people who are undocumented, uninsured or poor, the outcomes are even worse.

"We need to do a better job in this area," he said.

He said their "next frontier" is to bring the same treatment and outcomes at Huntsman Cancer Institute to rural clinics.

Don Milligan, executive director at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, said Utah ranks in the bottom 10 states for breast cancer screening. This is one of the reasons the mobile clinic was started.

"We knew we needed to do something about it," he said.

In 2019, the first mobile cancer screening unit hit Utah's roads. Milligan said it treats 1,465 patients a year and has been to 20 counties. He said it is booked months in advance.

"What a wonderful thing it is, and how honored we are to serve the state — but it isn't enough," he said.

The second screening van was designed over the last three years and took 18 months to build. Milligan said the money to build it — $1.6 million — was raised in one night at a Huntsman Cancer Foundation gala.

He said the new mobile screening unit will be able to provide screenings for breast, colorectal, skin and blood cancers. It is expected to travel about 10,000 miles a year.

"This is a multifaceted clinic that will truly bless the lives of the citizens of the state of Utah," Milligan said.

Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner said although Utah County is the second largest county in the state, it has lots of rural areas, some with very limited, or no, access to a cancer clinic by public transportation.

"With a bus like this, we can bring these services to everyone," she said.

She said it is an "absolute tragedy," that over half of Utah county geographically can't reach cancer screening clinics through public transportation. She said early detection through a mobile clinic, and a seamless transition to professionals at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, will save time and lives.

"Thank you so much for recognizing that even though we have cutting-edge technology, it's not always accessible to all of our citizens, and we want to work with you to ensure that as many people as possible have access to this health care," she said.

Gardner said the future Vineyard location of Huntsman Cancer Institute will not just help people in Utah County but Utahns in every county south of it.

"This will literally save hundreds of thousands of hours for cancer patients and their families, precious time that they will never get back, because they can make their way to Vineyard, right off the freeway," Gardner said.

Gardner told the Huntsman Cancer Institute the county is excited to partner with it.

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