SASKATOON — Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation (SCHF) and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) have partnered to support a new mammography camera at the Irene and Leslie Dubé Centre of Care Breast Heath Centre (Breast Health Centre).
“The Breast Health Centre plays an extremely important role in patient care here at Saskatoon City Hospital,” said Steve Shannon, CEO of Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation.
“When the ask for a new camera came to us to replace existing equipment, we knew our donors would be 100 per cent supportive of any funding we could provide. The Foundation has a long history in supporting the Breast Health Centre since its creation in 2006.”
With the Foundation’s support, the SHA was able to purchase a Hologic 3Dimensions Mammography system, to have it in place by the end of February and become operational by mid-March.
“SCHF’s funding for half of the final total cost of $500,000 for the new system expedited the process,” reported Richard Dagenais, the executive director of Medical Imaging for the SHA. “It arrived as planned, and staff were trained and began working with the unit within a matter of days. This was crucial in helping us continue to meet increasing demand from across the province. We are thankful for the Foundation in partnering with us to ensure patients facing breast health issues will have access to the best and most timely imaging.”
The cutting-edge technology offers functional and technological advances, including paddles that are more comfortable for the patient, sharper image quality, and better ergonomic design for the mammography technologists.
“We are grateful to Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation’s donors who have made this advancement possible, and for what it means in enhancing patient care,” said Dr. Carolyn Flegg, radiologist with the Breast Health Centre. “This new innovative camera can perform contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) which can reveal cancer that is otherwise hidden by normal breast tissue. We can use it to plan breast cancer surgery by mapping the location of the tumours, and to assess response to chemotherapy. It offers a faster and more comfortable alternative to a breast MRI, in some cases with comparable diagnostic accuracy.”
“It was wonderful to be in the position to do this and see it come to fruition so quickly,” said Shannon. “But it was also on a bittersweet note that this occurred around the time of the passing of one of the benefactors of the Breast Health Centre, Les Dubé. While we were so saddened by the loss of a great friend, we were comforted by the knowledge that he would have been pleased to know fellow donors were able to share, as he had done so often, to achieve a positive result.”
— Submitted by Saskatoon City Hospital Foundation
