Community Memorial Hospital has received a $50,000 grant to be paid over two years from the Gorman Foundation of Sherrill, NY. The grant is to support the purchase of digital mammography equipment. “We are pleased to receive this support from the Gorman Foundation,” said Community Memorial Hospital President David W. Felton. “We share a common goal of fighting breast cancer and early detection is instrument in this effort.” The hospital conducts 1,200 mammograms in a typical year and radiologic technologist Ann Lee Jeffreys has been guiding women through the procedure for more than two decades. She is candid, reassuring and able to react appropriately to a patient’s emotions. A mammography typically takes 20 to 30 minutes and while there is some discomfort and occasionally a pinch, most women describe the test as more awkward than painful. Four images – top to bottom and side to side of each breast – are processed immediately. An in house radiologist gives a preliminary reading while the patient is still on site and consults personally with any woman whose test raises concerns.

Mammograms have been a useful diagnostic tool for 35 years and have been available at Community Memorial for nearly 25 years. The test has grown more sensitive and more precise in that time and now digital technology represents the latest step forward.

Digital mammography improves visibility of breast tissue, particularly when dense, can detect cancer earlier, especially in pre-menopausal women less than 50, decreases radiation exposure over standard mammography and with the shorter exam times, there is more convenient and less anxiety. The Gorman Foundation was founded in 2003, with a bequest from Alice M. Gorman, who passed away from breast cancer, to help better society through support of educational, scientific, artistic and religious causes, organizations and programs.