Submitted by
Kate Stephens
Cabinet Peaks Medical Center Foundation began their 2 year campaign to bring 3D Mammography to Lincoln County in February of 2018. Just a little over one year later, they are thrilled to announce that they have raised the needed $430,000 and completed the campaign a year ahead of schedule.
“We are incredibly humbled by the outpouring of support by our community,” stated Kate Stephens, Executive Director of the CPMC Foundation. “Our community of donors really pulled together and made short work of what seemed, at the start, to be a daunting task. We are grateful to Lincoln County Credit Union, Glacier Bank, First Montana Bank, and the Paint It Pink committee and donors, who supplied lead gifts to our campaign and helped us kick the fundraising efforts off on the right foot. We also have two more families from our community who supplied substantial gifts to the cause, and those were Ted & Audrey Werner and Bruce & Monique Whitfield. Additionally, through the Foundation’s stewardship of our endowment fund, we were able to take a $130,000 distribution from our 2017 investment performance, which took another huge chunk out of the pie. From there, it was our community members and donor family who stepped up to the plate and gave generously to help wrap things up quicker than we could have ever imagined possible.”
Cabinet Peaks Medical Center has already begun taking the necessary steps to get the 3D Mammography machine to Libby and in use by mid-April. Unfortunately, as with the introduction of all new equipment and technology, there may be a few delays in CPMC’s mammography schedule as the transition from 2D Mammography to the new 3D Mammography takes place. The medical center will be working hard to keep area providers informed during the transition time.
3D Mammography is an innovative and state-of-the art piece of equipment that is vital for the detection of breast cancer, which is the second most common cause of death from cancer among American women, claiming nearly 41,000 lives a year. 3D Mammography creates a three-dimensional picture of the breast using x-rays, taking multiple pictures from many angles, allowing the radiologist to see the breast in greater detail. This enhance detail allows 3D Mammography to find cancers earlier, and to detect those often missed by conventional mammography. In fact, 3D Mammography detects approximately 54% more cancers than 2D Mammography. This ability to detect cancer at an earlier stage is life saving. In addition, the call back rate for 3D Mammography is 19% lower than that of 2D Mammography.
Hannah Huck, RT and Imaging Manager at Cabinet Peaks is ecstatic about the new piece of equipment. “It’s incredible that the funds came in so quickly from the community, our foundation, and the hospital auxiliary,” she stated. “This upgrade will be a huge benefit to our community, providing state of the art healthcare at home. We are so excited to be able to decrease the amount of recalls and help to reduce the amount of anxiety in women with screening mammograms.”