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CHC’s mammography facility gets US accreditation
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Posted on Oct 28 1999
The American College of Radiologist has recently certified the mammography facility of the Commonwealth Health Center after meeting the requirements that included tests on the capability of hospital technician, radiologist and physician., according to Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez.
This means that the facility can conduct yearly breast examination until such time the it has to renew accreditation from the American College of Radiologists, said Susan Zehr, manager of the radiology division. The accreditation has to be renewed every three years.
With the accreditation given last week, Zehr said the people in the community are assured of receiving quality health care. Failure to get the certification means that CHC will not be allowed to perform mammography.
CHC has been urging women to take yearly breast examination by a physician, and a monthly breast-self examination after Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio declared October as Cancer Awareness Month.
Villagomez said the hospital is planning to acquire another mammography machine to replace the 10-year-old equipment being used in the hospital. He said the CHC Volunteers have pledged to raise funds for the acquisition of a new machine.
Based on recent statistics, one out of nine women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. In the CNMI, the five-year (1992-1997) Mean Adjusted Death Rate of Breast Cancer in Chamorros is 76.8 per 100,000 population. Thus, Chamorro women are three times more likely to die of breast cancer than white women. In 1998, some 60 patients were diagnosed to have different types of cancer, but a big number of them have survived.
But the figures do not exactly reflect the real situation because the statistics include women from other Pacific island nations.
In his meeting with nurses from the Commonwealth Health Center and women leaders, the governor was asked to look into the possibility of chemo radiation therapy unit for the hospital since it is costing the CNMI government a huge amount of money to send patients on medical referral for cervical and breast cancer treatment.
