Western Baptist PET-CT unit earns accreditation
Western Baptist Hospital has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) following a recent review by the American College of Radiology. A PET/CT scan is a nuclear medicine imaging technique that shows how tissues and organs are functioning.
Western Baptist is the only Kentucky hospital west of Owensboro to receive this honor. The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety. It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field.
“PET/CT scans are used to assist in the diagnosis, staging and evaluation of oncology patients,” said radiologist Vernon Duncan, M.D. “The accreditation by ACR assures scans performed by the PET/CT unit at Western Baptist meet the highest quality standards. The ACR establishes standards for radiologists, staff, equipment and image quality that must be met achieve its accreditation.”
The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 34,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.
Western Baptist Hospital of Paducah is a regional medical and referral center, serving about 200,000 patients a year from four states. With more than 1,700 employees and 240 physicians, it offers a full range of services, including cardiac and cancer care, diagnostic imaging, women’s and children’s services, surgery, emergency treatment, rehabilitation and more. It is part of Baptist Healthcare System, one of the largest not-for-profit healthcare systems in Kentucky. For information, see westernbaptist.com.
For information, contact the Baptist Imaging Center at (270) 415-7242.