Loretto Hospital Women's Imaging Services

Loretto Hospital 2014

WoMen’S IMaGInG SerVIceS

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Loretto Hospital

Loretto on leading edge

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

by Deb Quantock Mccarey

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At Loretto Hospital, we strive to provide our patients with Better Standards, Better Care and Better Outcomes in a safe and holistic environment. For 75 years, Loretto Hospital has been standing strong delivering quality healthcare to the residents of the Austin and surrounding communities.

This is an exciting time for us. Over the past several years, we have concentrated our efforts on expanding our services and improving our infrastructure to ensure that we are meeting the healthcare needs of the community. The following stories are examples of our commitment to our patients and the recent growth of our Women’s Imaging Services and Radiology Department.

As we look forward to our continued growth and the next 75 years, I want to assure you that with every new program that we establish, or through any of our existing medical services, our primary goal is to provide our patients and their families with an exemplary health care experience.

Dr. Sonia Mehta CEO/Chief Medical Officer Loretto Hospital

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even years ago, when Loretto Hospital’s Dr. Ken LaPat was asked by administrators to take on the task of transitioning the community hospital’s outdated radiology department into a state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging site, the board certified radiologist “jumped at the chance to do it,” he says.

“We could see that this was a chance to really contribute, because in medicine we are here for a reason, and part of it is being able to bring a department up to a standard of care, from a place that didn’t have that. And, being able to do that is special,” says Dr. LaPat “because it is building something for the future, and that is really exciting for a physician.”

In the first six years, Dr. LaPat says they added a 64-Slice CT scanner, with work station. They invested in digitizing the entire radiology/diagnostic imaging department, providing extensive training to staff regarding the protocols of operating the new mammography equipment; fluoroscopy/real-time x-ray suite; and stereotactic biopsy table and Mammotome biopsy system.

To improve breast cancer patients’ care and support, they acquired grant funding to hire a full-time patient navigator.

“With all this, now we can keep track of a patient in our system, and when they enter a more complicated phase of the disease, we can refer them to an institution that can treat that stage of breast cancer,” says Dr. LaPat. “To be frank, this is the standard of care [biopsy procedures] at a community hospital,” he says, “and it is so important because breast cancer, the incidence of it in this community, and in communities around the country, is so high.”

Referring to recent data from U.S. Cancer Statistics, Dr. LaPat says that about one in eight U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. He adds that the information shows that

Provided by Loretto Hospital

(top) Fischer Stereotactic biopsy machine. (above) a tech works with the toshiba 64 Slice ct Scanner. overall, in women under age 45, breast cancer is more common in African-American women than white women, and the statistics indicate that African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer.

“Generally speaking, the majority of the women who come in to get an annual mammogram will not have breast cancer,” Dr. LaPat says.

“But if they do, in this screening method, we can pick up early breast cancer which gives us the best chance to cure the disease.”

Early detection saves lives

Three years ago, board certified radiologist Dr. Polina Petrovic joined the department, and is now its Chair. “Since our group arrived we have really taken the initiative to ensure we have state of the art women’s imaging services accessible to the residents of the Austin area. In addition we do non-invasive and minimally invasive diagnostic procedures using

state of the art digital equipment.

What that means is, now we can fully meet your breast imaging needs at Loretto Hospital, from screening mammogram, to - if necessary - diagnostic mammogram and biopsy. In the future, Loretto Hospital’s aim is to treat the early stages of breast cancer onsite, from a screening mammogram, to diagnostic mammogram and/or ultrasound, needle biopsy and early stage breast cancer surgeries, Dr. LaPat says.

“We have a long history in the Austin area, and we believe it is a matter of getting the information out and letting everyone know that we are here, that we can do all the things we do, and that they need not be afraid to come in and get a screening mammogram on an annual basis,” Dr. LaPat says. “If more women will do that, we are hoping that in the end, having that mammogram will save a lot more lives, by decreasing morbidity and mortality of a common disease, breast cancer.”

Think Pink in October

by Deb Quantock Mccarey

I

n October, during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Loretto Hospital will be raising awareness of the disease with an opportunity for women in the Austin community area to have a $50 screening mammogram, says Mary Rinder, the Director of Diagnostic Imaging at Loretto Hospital, 645 S. Central Avenue in Chicago.

In addition, during that window of time, for women who meet certain criteria, their screening mammogram will be free, thanks to the hospital’s fundraising arm, Loretto Hospital Foundation.

“We have done this now for over a year because the hospital has made a commitment to offer screening and diagnostic mammograms at an affordable fee so women can come in and be able to get one, because one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and it is a very treatable disease in the early stages,” Rinder says.

To learn more about why women should pay close attention to their breast health year-round, Austin Weekly News had a conversation with the director of diagnostic imaging at Loretto Hospital.

Why should women begin getting an annual screening mammogram at age 40?

Rinder: catch it in of breast treatment

The idea is to the early stages cancer, where is nearly cur-

Loretto Hospital

able for the condition. The American Cancer Society recommends that women, starting at the age of 40, have a base line mammogram, which means that then we can compare the mammogram every year along the way, not only to see if there’s an abnormality in her breast, but also to monitor changes year to year. Especially if they have a strong family history of breast cancer, they should be talking to their doctor about having one earlier.

Why do some women put this off?

Rinder: It’s bizarre to talk about it, but I think that being concerned about the discomfort of a mammogram is probably the number one fear that a woman has, and probably why she is initially less likely to come in for a screening mammogram.

It can be uncomfortable, but it should not be painful… because we only hold that compressive position for less than 30 seconds, and as technicians, we will accommodate a patients needs.

Why else do women wait?

Rinder: Especially if they have found an abnormality during a self exam, some women feel it’s better to just ignore it, not think about it, and everything will be fine, rather than knowing one way or another if a lump is benign or cancerous. Even though there is a real incidence of breast cancer, 80% of the exams that we do, where there is a diagnostic follow-up study, it

Mary rinder, director of the Diagnostic Imaging Department at Loretto Hospital.

DaVID PeIrInI/Staff photographer

“Ours is in a community setting, where the radiologists and staff are personable, and they care about each patient that walks through the door. ” Mary Rinder Director of diagnostic imaging department is nothing -- just normal breast tissue. But it is so important to always check.

Why should women make an appointment to get a mammogram at Loretto Hospital now?

Rinder: We are the closest community hospital for anybody in the 60644 zip code. And, we have all of the state of the art imaging equipment that

any other big university hospital would have.

Ours is in a community setting, where the radiologists and staff are personable, and they care about each patient that walks through the door. Also, when a woman calls to make an appointment, we can usually do her mammogram that same day, or the next day, and she can

usually have her results by the end of the week.

What happens if a woman gets a letter calling her back for additional images?

Rinder: We have a patient navigator here who spends all day following up on patients, making sure that they come back for their additional imaging studies, and she schedules them for biopsies, and makes sure they get results on a timely basis. No patient falls through the cracks here, because we work very hard to support every woman we see, by giving them that personal touch.

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Loretto Hospital

technician ebony Jordan with Loretto Hospital’s Dexa unit.

DaVID PeIrInI/Staff photographer

Offering a diagnosis for life

by Deb Quantock Mccarey

W

ork days at 7 a.m. at Loretto Hospital its tag team of ultrasound technicians, Affrah Shahbain and Mandeep Kaur, begin seeing a steady stream of patients. With various reasons for being there, these patients count on their skill and professional touch to procure an accurate internal picture of their bodies.

Among the patients they see are women who have received a red flag from a radiologist in the diagnostic imaging department, related to an abnormality first seen in a screening mammogram.

“It is part of our job to work as a team with the radiologist and other physicians to give

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internal images that help in the diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, including breast cancer,” says Shahbain. “Sometimes the characteristic of the pathology, which can be seen in the ultrasound report, may lead to them getting a biopsy, or a recommendation to return in six months for another monitoring view of the breast, because we provide the same picture in a different way, so the radiologist can use it alongside the diagnostic mammogram.”

Kaur adds that when patients are nervous, she explains that the ultrasound will either clear them for now, or determine if a biopsy is needed.

“I always tell them that whether what you have is a cyst, or even if you think it is benign,

still follow up with your doctor, especially if there is a discharge, and if there is a bloody discharge, we tell them to come in right away,” Kaur says.

Reading their imagery is Dr. Ken LaPat, one of the board certified radiologists in the diagnostic imaging department. He counts on the ultrasound technician’s expertise to better diagnose an abnormality in a breast because “many times when we do an ultrasound, what we are looking closer at turns out to be a simple cyst, and cysts are almost always benign,” he says.

An ultrasound, he says, can also help a radiologist see lesions in the breast that were otherwise not visible in a diagnostic mammogram, making it clear that the patient needs the next diagnostic measure, which is an onsite, and outpatient, needle biopsy.

“Thirty years ago, a biopsy meant a woman needed to go into surgery, and have anesthesia, and maybe not a huge incision but still it involved anesthesia and a surgical procedure,” Mary Rinder, director of diagnostic imaging says.

Thanks to recent up-grades

in the department, at Loretto Hospital, minimally invasive biopsy techniques are used, e.g. one or two needles that are inserted into the patient to procure tissue samples, either with the assist of mammography, stereotactic biopsy unit, or by performing an ultrasound-guided biopsy, says Rinder.

“Ultrasound is not recognized as a screening tool for breast cancer. However, it is an adjunct tool to work together with mammography, especially patients with a lump or any abnormality that the radiologist sees,” she says. “It is another tool to investigate the breast, to be able to identify what’s going on. Also, ultrasound picks up different characteristics of the breast than a mammogram would. A mammogram is excellent for seeing calcifications, things like that, whereas an ultrasound will be able to highlight an area that is either filled with fluid, a cyst, as opposed to solid mass. There are different reasons, but the ultrasound, as I said, is not used as a screening method. I know some women would like it to be, but it’s not effective.”

Loretto Hospital

Navigating women through a diagnosis of breast cancer

by Deb Quantock Mccarey

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hen first meeting Loretto Hospital’s patient navigator, Diana Salgado, it’s easy to take in the scope of her work as she seamlessly interacts with patients. She is the 45 year old, tender hearted and extremely efficient mother of five who is the face and voice of the Diagnostic Imaging Department at Loretto Hospital in Chicago for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.

“I follow up on all abnormal mammograms, and schedule their diagnostic mammo,” she says. “Then I schedule their ultrasounds, and schedule their biopsies and if they need more, I go with them to their doctor appointments. Whatever they need, and wherever they need me to navigate for them, I will do,” says Salgado, who also helps cancer patients navigate the billing and insurance process, as

well as how to obtain social security benefits.

“I follow them until their results are negative, or until they start their cancer treatment and are comfortable going to it by themselves, but I will still call them to make sure everything is going okay,” she says.

A year ago, that’s how she met cancer patient Barbara Parker, 54. Since Salgado swept into her life, Parker says it was Salgado who helped her come to grips with her diagnosis of early stage breast cancer, and whatever came next.

“Okay, I had cancer, but at first I didn’t want to know I had cancer, because it was like this: if I didn’t know about it before this, and I was doing okay, what difference does it make,” says Parker.

“But, me and Diana talked, and she helped me through the entire process, including the needle biopsy at Loretto, and my surgery [a lumpectomy at a different facility], because I wasn’t going

barbara Parker, left, says patient navigator Diane Salgado has been a god-send during her treatment for breast cancer.

DaVID PeIrInI/Staff photographer

which she did not to do it, if it had not want to do, by takbeen for her.” ing Tamoxifen [a pill] Prior to and leadthanks to her patient ing up to one of See more patient advocate, Salgado.

Parker’s appointinterviews online.

“She helped me ments, a needle through everything, biopsy, “Diana just LOG ON TO wouldn’t leave it,” AUSTINWEEKLYNEWS.COM and now the hard part is over. After I Parker says laughwent through the ing. “Then that day, biopsy and stuff, and she was outside of the surgery, she just my door, picking me up, and when I saw her at the was there… I had Diana, and door, I knew it would be okay, so in a way, it lessened the pain,” I got my scarf and I went. I love Parker says.

Since then, Loretto Hospital’s Diana to death. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have gone patient navigator has also linked through with any of this. But Parker to the local American Diana kept calling me every day Cancer Society, where the cancer saying ‘It’s going to be all right’ survivor has acquired a wig, and and ‘you need to get in here, you been able to take advantage of need to get in here.’ If she hadn’t other services they provide to done that, I would have just con- women living with cancer.

“I feel that if I am going to help tinued to live my life and let it be our patients, I might as well go all because I was feeling fine.”

After having had a lumpecto- the way and do everything I can my, Parker says she underwent for them,” says Salgado. “Because a regiment of radiation, avoid- if I had cancer, I would like someing a phase of chemotherapy, one to do that for me, too.”

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Loretto Hospital

Life saving at any age

by Deb Quantock Mccarey

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t age 69, when Aline Johnson, now 74, was initially diagnosed with breast cancer, the lively senior citizen recalls how “when the doctor told me I had breast cancer I said, well praise the Lord, and the young lady in Loretto Hospital’s radiology department that I told that story to asked me if I was in denial, because I didn’t jump into a tizzy, like I was afraid.

Because I was not afraid.”

For Johnson, an ordained elder in her West Side church, that was in 2009, or her second ever screening mammogram.

“I was living in Chicago Ridge when I was in this program that said everyone needed to get a mammogram, so I started coming to Loretto [five years ago],” she recalls. “When I had the mammogram at Loretto, they saw some scar tissue and that is when they said I had cancer. They recom-

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mended me to another doctor, and he took it out, so initially I had a mammogram, a diagnostic mammogram, a biopsy and then a surgery,” she says.

Post lumpectomy, it was during her monthly self breast exams she caught another mass in her breast…twice.

“My breast has been operated on three times since then, but the thing is that I believe in God, and when I found it myself, it was a blessing, because it was early and I didn’t have to have chemotherapy, only radiation,”she says.

For many reasons, as Johnson did, many women put off getting their first annual mammogram, way past the age of 40, when doing it early can detect cancer and lead to saving their lives, says Dr. Polina Petrovic, chair of the Diagnostic Imaging Department at Loretto Hospital. ”I always tell my female patients that you want to catch cancer when it is small and early, because you do not want to find

Dr. Polina Petrovic, radiology Department chair.

DaVID PeIrInI/Staff photographer

“I always tell women that how we initially detect breast cancer is with mammography.”

Dr. Polina Petrovic chair of the diagnostic imaging department it when it is too late to do anything realistic about it, says Dr. Petrovic. “So I always tell women that how we initially detect breast cancer is with mammography.”

Mammogram technician Ebony Jordan adds that fear of pain is an unsubstantiated factor, although unfortunately fretting about having a mammogram, and how it will feel, does keep some women from making an appointment.

“I have seen women have their mammogram and say, ‘oh that wasn’t so bad,’” she says. “It’s really about, oh my God, what if I have cancer because no one wants to be told that they have cancer, but, just because you have a screening mammogram doesn’t mean you have cancer, and if you do have cancer, you want to have

your mammogram every year so if you do, it can be detected and removed.”

As Johnson reflects on her circumstances, she says she believes every woman should get a screening mammogram, and not wait, as she did, even if they feel fine now, “because you never know what is going on in there,” Johnson says.

“I am scheduled for a mammogram, but it is not on the books yet. But, as soon as they schedule a mammogram, I will take one,” she says. “Sometimes we all need that little push, because if no one had ever told me to take a mammogram, I wouldn’t have done it,” she says. “But now I am glad I did. I think everyone needs to take a mammogram to take care of themselves.”

Loretto Hospital

Helping fund Loretto Hospital’s future

by Deb Quantock Mccarey

(From top to bottom) camille y. Lilly, vice president of external affairs, and Mary rinder, director of radiology present a rendering of Loretto’s kiss the Wall tribute; an upcoming display to honor women who have survived breast cancer for 5 plus years.

Loretto Hospital community Health nurse is administers free blood pressure screening to guests during the Pink café.

Volunteers and several community residents gather for a group photo at the conclusion of the 2nd annual Pink café breast Health education event.

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ince it’s inception in 2000, the aim of Loretto Hospital Foundation (LHF) has been to be the fundraising arm of Loretto Hospital by providing financial support for infrastructure and equipment upgrades, capital projects and the hospital’s community outreach programming.

In October, in recognition of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, will be the opportunity for any woman to come into Loretto’s Diagnostic Imaging department and have a $50 mammogram, thanks to LHF. “During that time, we also have a program where women from the community who meet certain criteria come into the hospital and get their screening mammogram free of charge, if they are not in a position to pay for it,” says Tesa Anewishki, Director of Marketing, and Foundation Administrator.

Since 2012, LHF has also provided funding to upgrade lighting in the hospital’s operating rooms, purchase clinical equipment including a Mammotome machine (also used for breast biopsies); as well as helped cre-

ate a patient care fund to purchase essential clinical equipment including wheelchairs, endoscopy video, stress echocardiogram machines and a CT scanner.

LHF has also provided funding to assist Loretto Hospital with the maintenance of hospital environment, including remodeling of patient care rooms, lobby upgrades, and exterior improvements.

Moreover, annually in March, LHF funding fuels “The Pink Café’ breast cancer awareness programming.

“Sometimes it can be a very awkward situation talking about your breasts and what do they feel

Photos provided by Loretto Hospital

like and changes in your breasts,” says Anewishki. “We want women to be cognizant about their bodies and those changes, so they can recognize if there is a need to go to the doctor faster, than they would if they were taking their typical annual mammogram.”

Also, along the way has

been the construction of the Connie L. Lindsey Cancer Resource Center, which is “another example of how the hospital is committed to meeting the need for health education and access to information for the community when you talk about cancer,” Anewishki says.

She adds that the hospital, in an effort to extend that outreach, has formed partnerships with the American Cancer Society, Sisters Network, Sisters Speaking Out, and others.

Providing the funding for these projects and educational initiatives are

private donations, and the annual Golfing for Loretto Golf Outing, plus the Spirit of Achievement Award gala, an annual event that recognizes an individual who has contributed to the betterment of the Austin community.

“Other smaller fundraisers are ongoing,” she says.

“Initially, the Foundation was born out of an understanding that there was a need to support the hospital in terms of patient transportation buses, because we have a lot of elderly patients, who prior to the purchase of a bus, had no transportation to us,” says Anewishki.

“Our goal, long term, is to continue on that path of generating funds so we can continue to support those programs and services the community of Austin, and our extended service area, need,” Anewishki says.

To make a donation to Loretto Hospital Foundation, or to become a sponsor of a hospital program, link to www.lorettohospitalfoundation.org.

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Get a $50 Mammogram Loretto Hospital proudly supports Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Throughout the month of October, qualified individuals can receive a mammogram for only $50* *Certain restriction apply. Call for details.

Each year nearly 300,000 women are diagnosed with the disease. And, each year close to 40,000 of them die from it. Don’t take any chances. Get tested because early detection can save your life.

Live Life. Beat Breast Cancer.

Schedule your mammogram today.

Call (773) 854-5233

Extended hours of operation and same day service are available.

Loretto Hospital 645 South Central Avenue • Chicago, Illinois 60644 (773) 626-4300

Ambulatory Care Clinic SERVICES: Primary Care Services (773) 854-5475 One of the best allies you can have for maintaining good health is a doctor who knows you and your medical history. At Loretto Hospital’s Ambulatory Care Clinic, our highly trained doctors and staff take the time to get to know each patient so that we can deliver the best individualized care and attention.

Our patients also have access to on-site diagnostic testing and transportation services making their visits easier and more convenient.

Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation (773) 854-5580

PCC Community Wellness Center and Austin Outpatient Pharmacy also on site.

Radiology/Diagnostic Imaging (773) 854-5220 Laboratory (773) 854-5250 Outpatient Behavioral Health Center (773) 854-5290

For more information about Loretto Hospital’s Ambulatory Care Clinic or for a complete list of services visit lorettohospital.org.

To make your appointment call (773) 854-5475 Loretto Hospital • 645 S. Central Ave. Chicago, IL 60644 • (773) 626-4300

Walk-ins welcome!