KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Doctors and staff from The University of Kansas Hospital will be offering free head, neck and oral cancer screenings at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, April 26, as part of the speedway’s race weekend.
The screenings will be offered from noon to 4 p.m. outside Gate B. Screenings take about 15 minutes and will be overseen by David Kriet, MD, an otolaryngologist at The University of Kansas Hospital. The screenings are cosponsored by Kansas Speedway and Bobby Hamilton Racing. Hamilton died last year from head and neck cancer and prior to his death encouraged his team and the racing community to get screened. His widow, Lori Hamilton, is a spokesperson for Head, Neck and Oral Cancer Awareness Week.
The University of Kansas Hospital, the official healthcare provider of Kansas Speedway, is the region's premier academic medical center, providing a full range of care. The hospital is affiliated with the University of Kansas Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health, and their various leading edge research projects. The constantly growing facility contains 508 staffed beds and serves more than 21,000 inpatients annually.
The cancer program is based in the region’s largest outpatient cancer facility, The University of Kansas Hospital Cancer Center and Medical Pavilion, located in Westwood, Kansas, 1 ½ miles from the main hospital.
The hospital also houses the region's only burn center and the area's only nationally accredited Level I Trauma Center.