Story County Hospital issued the following announcement on October 15.
The only difference between mobile mammography trucks and mammography at the hospital? One of the two has four wheels. The high-quality care remains the same, whatever the location. (Photo and video by Simon Floss, Sanford Health)
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanford Health has had a long history of offering safe, quality health care, whatever the setting.
The pandemic has only reinforced that commitment. For just one example, look no further than Sanford’s mobile mammography trucks.
The health care provider has offered mobile mammograms for years, driving to any and all cities Sanford serves.
Schedule a mammogram: Find a mobile mammography event near you
“We provide care anywhere and everywhere that it’s needed. We go out to the rural communities, we go out to the reservation communities, and we go to hospitals that have 2D mammography, but not 3D. So, we provide the 3D service to those hospitals,” said Sanford Health mammography technologist Regan Chace.
Same equipment, different locations
The continued quality of care is what makes Sanford’s two mobile mammography trucks unique, according to Chace.
“The mobile mammo-truck has exactly the same equipment we have at our main location, it’s just on a truck. We have dressing rooms, we have a computer area where we can interview patients. So, your experience is exactly the same as if you were to come to Sioux Falls and have it done at our main location,” she said.
Read more: Determining your risk for developing breast cancer
She also adds that the entire mammography staff rotates between the mobile trucks and the hospitals.
“It’s the same quality of technologists that you’d have in the big city, and we can get to a little community. We have over one hundred plus years of experience with all of us. We’ve got a very well trained staff.
“We have five fellowship-trained breast radiologists that read all of our exams, which is a fantastic thing,” she added.
Chace says the ability to offer this full-service experience on the move separates Sanford Health from other health care providers.
“Sanford does a good job of keeping us up in the cutting edge of everything. We’re a full service.”
Importance of mammograms
She adds that mammograms are critical in catching and treating breast cancer.
“Screening mammograms are the best way for us to find breast cancer in the vast majority of women right now. We look for very subtle changes in the breast from year to year, and we can see those on the mammography,” she said.
“That’s what alerts us to take a closer look and really dive deep into that, and see if there’s a bigger problem with that patient.”
She adds that the entire process takes roughly 15-20 minutes.
To schedule a mammogram, visit My Sanford Chart or Sanford Health’s website.
Original source can be found here.
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