(Utica, NY- April 2014) The St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC) Foundation has received a challenge grant in the amount of $15,000 from an anonymous donor “in memory of a remarkable man”, to assist SEMC in purchasing software technology for its digital mammography equipment at the Sister Rose Vincent Family Medicine Center and the St. Elizabeth Medical Arts location in New Hartford.
“Our organization conducts approximately 4,800 mammography screenings annually,” noted Andrea LaGatta, director of Development for SEMC. “This software will help us to eliminate the need for unnecessary, and sometimes invasive, follow-up screenings. Thanks to our very generous donors, this challenge grant puts us more than half way to our goal of $56,000, which is the total cost of the upgrade.”
Donors who helped achieve the challenge grant include: First Source Federal Credit Union, the Hon. and Mrs. Barry Donalty, Skenandoah Golf Tournament, Maurice L. Oehlsen, MD and Linda Schicker, MD.
The new software is a clinical tool that assists clinicians in measuring breast density by drawing attention to suspicious areas in mammograms that require further review. Breast density is known to be a significant predictor of breast cancer risk, with studies reporting up to a six-fold increase in the risk of developing cancer in women with very dense breasts. The software addresses patient safety and is an integral part of the digital mammography experience, assisting physicians in the detection of cancer in its earliest, and most easily treatable, stage.