Breast Care Initiative
In 2002, Community Hospital opened a state-of-the-art center for breast care in response to a need expressed by local women. Led by Susan Roux, MD, an expert radiologist specializing exclusively in the interpretation of breast imaging and treatment planning, the center sees more than 17,000 women each year.
Now, with help from women in our community, we are undertaking a campaign to ensure that we keep pace with advances in technology, and upgrade our screening equipment to continue to provide access to the best possible breast care.
Our goal was to raise $2.5 million from the community by the end of 2008. We're almost there, so we've briefly extended the campaign. Those funds will be supplemented with funds from the hospital and used to purchase the next-generation in diagnostic equipment, specifically in the area of digital mammography. The high-definition images enable more accurate diagnoses than film mammography, and reduce the number of times women have to make return visits so additional images can be captured.
"Just like with a digital camera, we can review, highlight, and manipulate the images in many ways to get the best view possible," says Dr. Susan Roux, medical director of the Breast Care Center and an expert radiologist specializing exclusively in the interpretation of breast imaging and intervention.
Our breast care initiative has won strong support from the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, which generously awarded a $500,000 grant to the project over a three-year period. Those funds, raised through the annual AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament, must be matched by the contributions of others. In addition, Community Hospital's Auxiliary made a $200,000 grant that must be matched.
This important effort is being led by a group of women in our community who are deeply concerned about women's health issues. Committee members are: Laurie Benjamin, Dede Bent, Linda Cosmero, Betty Kasson, Suzanne Lehr, Marcia Modisette, Jane Panattoni, and Lucy Reno.
Half of the committee members are breast cancer survivors and all have been touched by the disease, which occurs in one in eight women.
"Early detection and diagnosis are the keys to successful outcomes," says Kasson. "I have had breast lumps detected early three times, and three times I have had successful treatment for breast cancer. I never forget that self-examination and advances in mammography and ultrasound are the reasons I am here today."
To learn more about our breast care initiative, please contact Michele Melicia Young or Carol Hatton at (831) 625-4506.
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