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SAMARITAN FOUNDATION LAUNCHES CAPITAL CAMPAIGN FOR DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY
EQUIPMENT

Lifesaving technology for women is about to get better in Moses Lake. By the end of 2008, women will have access to high-tech digital mammograms that provide greater clarity.

Samaritan Foundation has established a capital campaign to raise $421,027 to purchase Hologic Selenia Techmate digital mammography equipment. The equipment will be installed at Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake.

“The hospital foundation is extremely pleased to be able to partner with Samaritan Healthcare to bring digital mammography to the Columbia Basin,” states Samaritan Healthcare Foundation Board President Mark Roeber. “Breast cancer cuts across all social and economic boundaries, and almost everyone you ask knows someone whose life has been touched by this disease. We feel an increased ability to detect breast cancer at an early stage is very compelling since Washington State ranks # 1 in the incident rate of breast cancer per capita in the United States.”


Hologic Selenia Techmate digital mammography equipment

 

SAMARITAN FOUNDATION DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

Digital mammography offers many advantages compared to traditional film-based mammography for cancer detection. Both use compression of the breast and x-rays to create images of the inside of the breast. But this is where the differences begin…

  • With digital mammography, the electronic image appears within a matter of seconds onto a special high-resolution monitor. The radiologist can review the images, adjust the brightness, change contrast, and zoom in for close ups of specific areas of interest. This manipulation of the image is one of the main benefits of digital technology.
  • Digital mammography has overcome some of the limitations of conventional film-based mammography, increasing the detection rate of breast cancer in mammographically dense breasts by 11%.
  • Digital mammography uses 40 – 50% less radiation.
  • Instead of having to hand-deliver a film image to the physician’s office, the radiologist can send the images via broadband internet.
  • Digital images give better visibility of the breast, particularly near the skin line, chest wall, and in women with dense breast tissue. (A woman cannot know if her breasts are dense unless she has had a prior mammogram and was told by her doctor.)

Contributions and pledges to the Digital Mammography Capital Campaign (September 22, 2008) amount to $400,728. Your support, either now or a pledge of support that can be paid over a multi-year period, is greatly appreciated! Our goal is to raise the remaining $20,299 prior to installing the equipment in the fourth quarter of 2008.

If you would like to help with this worthy cause, please contact Dave Campbell, Executive Director, at 509-764-2904.