The Power of Pink
The past year was a busy one for the St. Joseph’s Breast Care Center — we completed 9414 mammograms! With more members of our community seeking breast care, 2021 was the perfect time to make sure that our radiologists had every tool they needed to provide compassionate, timely and state-of-the-art care. Thanks to breast care center donors like you, our radiologists now have the best technology available!
Do you remember when you went to the library and scheduled a reading room to review microfiche or use a resource that you couldn’t easily check out and bring home? If so, you can appreciate the convenience and flexibility that comes from accessing these kinds of resources from computers in our offices and homes. The same is true for the radiologists who read mammograms and scans for our patients. Traditionally, our six radiologists would have to use a special reading room or radiology suite in the Breast Care Center to review test results — and each room had space for one radiologist at a time. This meant that radiologists had to reserve the space. This was difficult if they needed more time or were called away from their reading.
Thanks to a recent upgrade to the Picture Archiving Systems (PACs), St. Joe’s radiologists can now read patient mammograms and scans on their own workstations — wherever they are located! And, with the improved technology, mammograms are now visible in 3D.
It’s a true game changer for everyone.
In 2021 we also added a new Barco 12-megapixel computer monitor for Kira Wendorf, MD, medical director of the Breast Care Center. This state-of-the-art monitor was created specifically for reading mammograms. The expanded size of the unit enables Dr. Wendorf to see the entire breast scan on one screen, rather than tile by tile. Since mammograms require the very highest resolution of any health care imaging, this innovation added a new level of expertise to the center’s diagnostic services.
Thanks to our generous donors and these significant technology upgrades, our amazing Radiology and Breast Care Center teams are well equipped and ready to serve every member of our community who visits us.
Gifts to the Breast Care Center are accepted all year long. Make a gift today and support those in our community experiencing breast cancer.
Learn more about the PINK RIDE or the Flamingo Fundraiser.
This story was featured in the 2021 Foundation Annual Report; read more.