First digital mammography van in Connecticut hits the road
For Immediate Release
Date: 7/16/07
Contact: Mark D’Antonio, (203) 688-2493 or Mark.D'Antonio@ynhh.org
New Haven, Conn., - Yale-New Haven Hospital, in collaboration with Hill Health Center and Yale Cancer Center, is home to a new digital mammography van, the only mammography van in Connecticut offering digital screenings. The new van has just hit the road, providing mammogram screenings to women throughout the state.
The new 40-foot-long van is staffed by certified mammogram technologists and outfitted with state-of-the art digital equipment. It is one of only about one dozen digital mobile mammography vans in the United States.
“Providing women with mammography screening services in their communities and at their places of business is convenient, saves time and encourages preventive health care,” said Shirley Pinette, manager, Yale-New Haven Breast Center. “We have been providing mobile mammography services for 20 years and we’re looking forward to offering patients this valuable service with our new digital mammography van.”
As part of the hospital’s mammography screening program, the van travels to various pre-scheduled sites such as health clinics, area businesses, senior centers and shopping areas, primarily throughout southern Connecticut, to conduct mammograms.
Digital mammography, which uses less radiation than film mammograms, stores an electronic image of the breast directly in a computer, allowing the recorded data to be enhanced or magnified for further evaluation. The information from the screening conducted on the van is transmitted back to the hospital and read by radiologists from the department of diagnostic radiology at Yale School of Medicine.
The digital mobile mammography service is offered Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. To schedule the van for a location or to make an appointment, call the Yale-New Haven Breast Center at (203) 688-6800 or visit www.ynhh.org.