Philanthropy propels future Olympia breast health center
In 2013, Lara Anderson and her husband Scott were raising their two elementary-aged boys when a routine mammogram revealed a suspicious mass. Life came to an abrupt halt.
“It’s actually surreal when I look back on it,” reflects Anderson, a third-generation Olympia resident and MultiCare Capital Foundation board member. “I remember thinking how young my boys were, and how badly they needed me to be healthy.”
Fortunately, her care team moved quicky, scheduling a biopsy followed by a lumpectomy and then radiation. Twelve years later, she remains cancer-free and forever grateful for her seamless treatment. 
“It’s just given a whole new meaning to ‘access to care,’” Anderson says. “I really do believe that health care is a human right, and everybody should be able to get the same quality of care.”
However, her timely experience isn’t the reality for all women.
Diagnosing a community need
In Thurston County, cancer is the leading cause of death among women. Breast cancer is the most common diagnosis, affecting one of every eight women nationally.
Although early detection of the disease leads to a five-year relative survival rate of 99 percent, Thurston County women currently wait two to three months for an initial screening mammogram. For specialized follow-up appointments, such as stereotactic breast biopsy, they frequently must travel to Tacoma or Seattle.
The need for oncology services continues to grow. Since 2010, Thurston County gained over 50,000 residents, and is estimated to add more than 25,000 by 2030.
“The challenge in our community is we don’t have adequate access to care,” explains Bart Thompson, imaging services manager at MultiCare Capital Medical Center.
Capital Medical Center is ready to address that challenge with the help of Thurston County’s philanthropic community — and in conjunction with the recent launch of MultiCare Cancer Institute.
Designing a new normal for women
To date, donors have given more than $1 million through Capital Foundation in support of a new comprehensive breast health center, which will become the first of its kind in the region.
The center will be across the street from Capital Medical Center, next to MultiCare Capital Women’s Integrated Primary Care, which opened in 2023 thanks to robust community generosity.
“This is a critical part of a vision to create space for women’s health that is all inclusive,” says Cecelia Loveless, executive director of Capital Foundation. “It’s another step that ensures when women come in for their primary care visits, they can just walk across the hall and get a screening.”
Design plans are being finalized to optimize the standalone space for patients, centralizing all imaging and adding another 3D mammography machine and a stereotactic biopsy system. A breast health navigator program — where specially trained staff coordinate treatment and help patients understand their options — will provide a more personalized, integrated care experience.
“By expanding the types of services we offer, we can provide them in entirety instead of a patchwork of different organizations filling in gaps,” says Thompson, imaging services manager. “And when you’ve got a difficult diagnosis, you need somebody to help you get through that and plan for the next phases of care.”
Once open, the center is expected to dramatically reduce screening wait times, enable prompt diagnostic follow-up and streamline scheduling.
From patient to champion
Anderson is now pouring her heart and talent into growing health care close to home.
In 2024, she was invited to help curate a donor-funded collection at the new Capital women’s clinic, and was instantly drawn to the hospital’s vision for women’s health.
“I started thinking, ‘This is the way health care is supposed to be for women … I’ve got to be part of this,’” Anderson remembers.
She then created original artwork to support fundraising for the future breast health center, arranging dozens of painted tiles to depict interwoven cherry blossom branches and blooms. Donors making a significant gift receive a tile as a token of gratitude.
Anderson made an original art piece to support expanded breast health services at Capital Medical Center.
“It was the connectivity of our community that inspired the piece,” Anderson explains. “People are committed to this breast health center and committed to people’s health care and improving it for others. We’re all connected.”
Carrying on a storied legacy
Forty years ago, Angela J. Bowen, MD, helped open Capital Medical Center to improve access to women’s health services. She’d likely be proud to see how hospital and board leadership, donors and engaged residents have advanced her vision — first with the new center for women’s health and now the breast health center.
“The center is a product of the community’s desire,” Loveless shares. “They came together and said, ‘This is a necessary priority.’”
The outpouring of generosity has fast-tracked planning, putting the center on pace to open later this year, while the Foundation continues to raise funds.
“Without philanthropy, we simply wouldn’t be able to do this project,” Thompson says.
Anderson invites those in Thurston County and beyond to join and contribute to this locally driven health care movement.
“It’s how you show love for your community,” she shares.
