2 minute read
A Look Back
from Pulse
Former Torrance Memorial staff members are shown breaking ground on the Vasek Polak Breast Diagnostic Center. From left: Patricia Sacks, MD, George Graham, Sally Eberhard and Robert Huber, MD
The Polak Breast Diagnostic Center at Torrance Memorial
Written by Jill Biggins Gerbracht
Torrance Memorial’s Breast Diagnostic Center was formed in 1986 thanks to the generosity of Vasek and Anna Maria Polak—local leaders in business and philanthropy who provided the funds to launch and grow the hospital’s program. The first of several large donations was made in 1994 by the late South Bay auto dealer Vasek Polak and included $1.2 million to Torrance Memorial’s Breast Diagnostic Center. Torrance Memorial recognized the generosity of the donation by dedicating its Breast Diagnostic Center to Polak and his late wife, Anna Maria.
Including a new pledge dedicated in 2000, donations made in the names of Vasek and Anna Maria Polak total $3.7 million. The Breast Diagnostic Center has been the leader in the community offering the best technology in breast imaging. The center was the first to offer digital mammography, also referred to as 2D mammograms, in 2004.
Then in 2014, the center was the first facility in the South Bay to offer 3D mammograms. Patricia Sacks, MD, now retired radiology specialist at Torrance Memorial, started the Polak Breast Diagnostic Center in 1992—well before mammograms used digital technology. The Breast Diagnostic Center screens more than 2,000 patients a month with the 3D machines. This technology is especially valuable for younger patients who are getting their first mammogram and patients with dense breasts.
Hologic machines—costing $300,000 to $400,000 each— are used at the Vasek and Anna Maria Polak Breast Diagnostic Centers in Torrance, Carson, Manhattan Beach and Rolling Hills. Together, the offices screen more than 30,000 women annually.
As Breast Cancer Awareness month approaches, it is an important reminder of the importance of maintaining breast health with regular mammograms for women age 40 and older. •
