Western Baptist Hospital is the region’s first breast imaging center to be designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR).

It is the only hospital in the four-state area to earn the recognition. The other closest centers of excellence are in Nashville, St. Louis and Lexington.

“This means that national experts have examined every aspect of our mammography and other breast imaging services,” said radiologist Eric Shields, M.D., “and found them to be the best in their field.”

Dr. Shields said the designation should comfort women seeking breast testing and treatment. “What’s most important to these women is quality and accuracy in the imaging,” Dr. Shields said. “This designation certifies that they can expect to get that here.”

The ACR initiated the recognition this year for breast imaging centers that have earned accreditation in all of the voluntary, breast-imaging accreditation programs and modules, in addition to the mandatory Mammography Accreditation Program.

The breast imaging services at Western Baptist are fully accredited in mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, breast ultrasound and ultrasound-guided breast biopsy.

"Ultrasound guidance for breast biopsies is an additional tool that can be used when an abnormality is in a location which can't be viewed by conventional methods or when the lesion can only be seen by ultrasound," said Dr. Shields.

Peer evaluations, conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists, determined that Western Baptist had high practice standards in image quality, personnel qualifications, facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs.

The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Va., is a national organization serving more than 32,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs for focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology, as well as the delivery of comprehensive health care services.
Learn more about mammography services at Western Baptist Hospital at westernbaptist.com or by phoning Baptist Health Line at (270) 575-2918.