Mather Hospital rallies community in the fight against breast cancer

Paint Port Pink, Mather Hospital's breast cancer awareness community outreach, kicks off its annual campaign October 1. Paint Port Pink is a month-long outreach by the Fortunato Breast Health Center with the mission of raising awareness about breast cancer, sharing information and education and fostering solidarity in the community.

Events for October include:

Oct. 1 - Light the lights! Community partners, including the Village of Port Jefferson, will light their pink lights and display banners. Mather Hospital's cupola goes pink as well.

Oct. 6 - Breast cancer screening event in collaboration with Middle Island Fire Department and Branches Long Island. The screening event will run from 9am - 12pm at Middle Island Fire Department, 31 Arnold Drive, Middle Island, NY 11953. Registration is encouraged. Spots are limited. To make an appointment, call (631) 476 - 2723.

Oct. 15 - Our annual EmpowerHER women's health seminar, this year at the Meadow Club in Port Jefferson Station, from 6-8pm. The $10 registration fee includes a buffet dinner in support of the Fortunato Breast Health Center. The event includes three presentations on women's health. Register at matherhospital.org/empowerher

Oct. 16 - Wear Pink Day/National Mammography Day - Get your pink on for this annual event and post photos on social media with #paintportpink.

Window decorating contest - Decorate your business window for a chance to win tickets to a 2027 concert at Jones Beach. Send photos of your window by October 16, 2026, to [email protected]. Sign up for the contest at matherhospital.org/paintportpink to be a community partner.

Pink your pumpkin - Our popular pumpkin decorating contest returns. Find your perfect pumpkin, decorate it in the pinkest fashion possible, take a photo and email your pumpkin photo to [email protected] by October 22, 2026, for your chance to win tickets to a 2027 concert at Jones Beach.

Interested in supporting Paint Port Pink your own way? Host a pink-themed fundraising event to support Mather's Fortunato Breast Center. Contact [email protected] or call (631) 476-2723 for more information.

The full calendar of events, educational seminars and a list of Paint Port Pink community partners is at paintportpink.org.

Paint Port Pink is sponsored by New York Cancer & Blood Specialists and Riverhead Toyota.

About Mather Hospital

Mather Hospital is an accredited 249-bed, non-profit community teaching hospital dedicated to providing a wide spectrum of high-quality healthcare services to Suffolk County residents, showing compassion, respect and treating each patient in the manner we would wish for our loved ones. Mather received its fourth top five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for outcomes, patient experience and process and the prestigious Magnet® recognition three times from the American Nurses Credentialing Center for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. The hospital was ranked as high-performing in one adult specialty and six procedures/conditions by U.S. News & World Report's 2026-27 Best Hospital rankings -diabetes & endocrinology; knee replacement, colon cancer surgery, heart failure, heart attack, kidney failure and pneumonia. Mather also was named one of America's 250 best hospitals for 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 by Healthgrades and in 2026 received Healthgrades' Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ for the sixth consecutive year. Our Graduate Medical Education program prepares physicians for future careers through Internal Medicine, Transitional Year, Diagnostic Radiology, Interventional Radiology, Psychiatry and Pharmacy residency programs and gastroenterology and hematology/oncology fellowships. For information about Mather Hospital, visit matherhospital.org or follow us @MatherHospital on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Northwell Health
Northwell is the largest not-for-profit health system in the Northeast, serving residents of New York and Connecticut with 28 hospitals, more than 1,000 outpatient facilities, 22,000 nurses and over 20,000 physicians. Northwell cares for more than three million people annually in the New York metro area, including Long Island, the Hudson Valley, western Connecticut and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Northwell is New York State's largest private employer with over 108,000 employees - including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners and Nuvance Health Medical Practices - who are working to change health care for the better. Northwell, named a TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2025, is making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. Northwell is training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu and follow us @NorthwellHealth on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn.