After nearly six years, mammography service has returned to Allen County Regional Hospital. 
The hospital lost accreditation for the service in May 2017. Since then, patients — men and women — have had to get mammograms at a visiting mobile unit or travel elsewhere.
ACRH will offer mammogram scans at the hospital, working with Saint Luke’s Breast Centers and Saint Luke’s Cancer Institute. Saint Luke’s breast radiologist, Cole Worley, MD, will be the lead interpreter for scans.
Both 3D and 2D mammography services are available, though 3D scans can detect up to 40% more cancers and are more often recommended.
“Getting a mammogram at the hospital in Iola will be the same quality as getting a mammogram at one of our locations in the metro area. It’s the same type of equipment,” Worley said in a press release Wednesday afternoon.
Jeremy Armstrong, ACRH administrator, said: “If you’re due for a mammogram, now is a great time to get in and get it done. Take care of yourself, and encourage your mothers, daughters, sisters, and other special women in your life to do the same.”
ACRH lost accreditation of its mammography services in May 2017, when the American College of Radiology, acting on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration, determined the hospital failed to meet “clinical image quality standards.” The FDA ordered the hospital to stop performing mammograms; those who underwent mammograms between March 28, 2015, and May 19, 2017, were told to have their health care provider review the mammograms and determine if another examination at another facility was warranted.
The Burlington physician who was in charge of reading those scans surrendered his license to the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts in 2020.
The hospital worked for years to be re-accredited, but the process was delayed by changes in providers.
In July 2020, Saint Luke’s leased ACRH to provide all medical services and staff. Saint Luke’s also operates a hospital in Garnett, which has long offered 3D mammography services.
BREAST cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among American women, exceeded only by lung cancer. Statistics indicate that one in eight women will develop breast cancer sometime in her lifetime.
“Catching cancers earlier is critical,” Worley said. “Early detection improves patients’ prognosis and the chance for treatment success.”
The 2022 report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Program shows about 34 percent of Allen County women on Medicare obtained a mammogram screening in 2019, the most recent year data was studied. That was similar to previous years, but is below the state average of 46 percent. Nationwide the rate was 43 percent.
Mammography screening became widespread in the 1980s. Since then, the breast cancer death rate, unchanged for the previous 50 years, has dropped nearly 40 percent, according to data from the National Cancer Institute.
According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 100 percent of women with stage 0 or stage I breast cancer have a 5-year survival rate. That number decreases as cancer becomes more advanced. Only about 22 percent of women with Stage IV or metastatic breast cancer have a 5-year relative survival rate.
Saint Luke’s recommends all women 40 years and older get a mammogram yearly. Women considered high risk may need to get annual mammograms at an earlier age. Patients due for their annual mammogram do not need a doctor’s order for a screening 3D mammogram.
3D mammograms are now fully covered by both Kansas and Missouri insurance with no out- of-pocket costs. Check with your insurance or call the hospital if you are uncertain of coverage.
Patients can schedule a mammogram at Allen County Regional Hospital by calling 620-365-1205.
Advertisement
Advertisement
