The opening of JamesCare at Lazarus is one more accomplishment in our continuing effort to bring education, prevention and early detection of cancer to our community. We re very excited to work with Lazarus to create this new opportunity for women in Columbus. The Lazarus - City Center location in downtown Columbus is the third location to offer women these services. A fourth center is expected to open in downtown Pittsburgh in November. These high quality mammography centers are the result of unique partnerships formed between the department store and leading medical centers well known for their commitment to breast health.
Breast cancer is an issue that touches so many of our customers, as well as our employees.
Mammography has proven to be a vital tool in the early detection of breast cancer, and therefore in breast cancer survival. We re pleased to team with The James Cancer Hospital to open this center in the Central Ohio community. In 1998, nearly 9,000 women are predicted to develop breast cancer in Ohio. More than 2,000 are estimated to die from the disease this year in the state. Through early detection, breast cancer survival rates are nearly 97 percent.