Ministry Good Samaritan Announces Extended Evening Hours for Mammography Services

Ministry Good Samaritan Health Center will begin offering Tuesday evening appointment availability for its digital mammography services.

Starting Tuesday November 22, Ministry Good Samaritan will offer digital mammography appointments through 7 p.m. each Tuesday.

“We hope these extended hours will provide more convenient access for women in our community,” said Mary Witte, director of Diagnostic Imaging Services at Ministry Good Samaritan Health Center.

Regular appointment hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. will continue each other day of the week.

Ministry Good Samaritan health Center utilizes a permanent full field digital Mammography unit which allows for:

• Better visibility of the breast, particularly near the skin line, the chest wall and in women with dense breast tissue.
• Faster exams.
• Fewer call backs for patients. The flexibility to magnify and manipulate digital images can provide more clinically relevant information and therefore can eliminate some callbacks that are necessary with traditional film-based mammography systems.
• The advancement of telemedicine, allowing breast images to be sent electronically or on a CD to be reviewed on a computer.
• Lower radiation dose in those with dense breast tissue.

Witte encourages women over 40 years of age or those with a family history of breast cancer to schedule a regular mammogram. Mammography can often detect breast cancer before it can be felt or before it produces symptoms. When detected early, breast cancer can be treated successfully.

Mammography is also used to follow up on findings from previous screenings or to evaluate a woman who may have other symptoms.

For more information or to schedule a digital mammography appointment at Ministry Good Samaritan Health Center in Merrill, please call 715.539.2124.