Hospital invests nearly $5M to quadruple its monthly breast cancer screening capacity
A Pennsylvania hospital has spent $4.6 million to quadruple its monthly breast cancer screening capacity, leaders said Wednesday.
Allegheny Health Network made the investment at its Jefferson Hospital Breast and Imaging Center in Jefferson Hills, which is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Upgrades include enlarging the radiology space by almost 2,000 square feet, also allowing the hospital to double its monthly diagnostic breast exam capacity.
With the upgrades, Jefferson Hospital now has a second ultrasound room, two more mammography spaces, and a dedicated bone density scanning room. The moves come after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in April finalized recommendations that all women begin undergoing mammography every other year starting at age 40 instead of 50.
“These updated guidelines have notably increased the number of women who are eligible for an annual mammogram,” Chong Park, MD, president of AHN Jefferson, said in a July 10 announcement. “When paired with an increase in general patient awareness of risk profiles, we have seen an uptick in women seeking services from the AHN Jefferson Breast Center.”
The facility also will offer advanced technology allowing radiologists to perform image-guided biopsies “faster, more efficiently and with less tissue removal.” Allegheny Health Network additionally highlighted the center’s larger, more private waiting area, along with enhanced check-in and check-out spaces designed for “ease of access and improved patient wayfinding.” Plus, they’ve upgraded waiting rooms for gowned patients and those with disabilities, bolstering privacy and comfort.
“This important investment in our facility enables us to offer the highest level of breast imaging and care in an extremely comfortable and patient-friendly environment,” Bethany Casagranda, DO, chair of the AHN Imaging Institute, said in the announcement.
This is the latest in a series of radiology-related projects undertaken by the 14-hospital academic health system. AHN in March 2023 opened its North Fayette Health + Wellness Pavilion, offering one of the region’s first 3T MRI scanners. In November, it opened the expanded Bethel Park Health + Wellness Pavilion breast and imaging center, and Allegheny Valley Hospital is currently working to expand its radiology department.
“To better serve our diverse patient populations and communities, it is critical to have comprehensive imaging care close to home,” Casagranda said last year.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.