Roberta Wessel, Mount Desert Island Hospital’s Breast Center supervisor, has been elected president of the Maine Breast Cancer Coalition (MBCC), where she hopes to extend her commitment to patient education to a state-wide audience.
“As a mammographer, I love to be involved in direct patient care. But I am also an advocate for patients,” Wessel said of her motivation for joining and leading the MBCC. “It can be hard for women to know what resources are available. I wanted to network and work with others to help everyone who needs it.”
The MBCC is a non-profit, grassroots, volunteer-based organization that is dedicated to making a positive difference in the health of Maine people. The organization offers financial support for women with breast health or breast cancer needs, advocates for breast cancer research and legislation and is active in community education to promote knowledge about breast cancer and care.
Wessel, who lives in Blue Hill, has been at The Breast Center at MDI Hospital since 2006. At Downeast Maine’s only accredited Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, she is part of a dedicated breast health team led by Medical Director John Benson, MD, who bring years of specialized skills and expertise to provide women with the screening, diagnostic and treatment options that are available at MDI Hospital.
As president of MBCC she will also be a champion for the group’s statewide education and fundraising objectives, including their commitment to the service fund, which has assisted more than 2,000 women since the organization’s creation in 1992. The MBCC also advocates for breast cancer patients at the state level and promotes the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s Breast Cancer Deadline 2020 initiative to end breast cancer by Jan. 1, 2020.
The MBCC is based in Bangor and is comprised of members throughout the state. To learn more about the organization, visit www.mainebreastcancer.org.