Palmetto Health Tuomey offering free screening mammograms

One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. Many of those will be in Sumter, a community that ranks 14th out of 45 counties in the state for breast cancer cases, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Palmetto Health Tuomey is working to change those statistics by offering exceptional breast cancer prevention and medical care to the Sumter community.

The Tuomey Breast Center and Sumter Radiology will offer free screening mammograms during October. This free service is not for those already on Medicare or Medicaid or who have insurance. To see if you qualify, call (803) 774-9047 or (803) 774-9046.

The entire Palmetto Health Tuomey Mammography team - physicians, technologists, leaders - earned the prestigious Breast Imaging Center of Excellence accreditation from the American College of Radiology this summer. This goes well beyond the required mammography accreditation and includes a grueling review process by experts who determine if a breast center is providing exceptional care and high-quality images on a consistent basis.

"We already provided excellent care," said breast center Director Julie Riley, "but this gives us even greater recognition, going beyond what is required, having an outside regulatory agency scrutinize our work and finding zero issues - a rare achievement."

The ACR recognizes imaging centers that have earned accreditation in mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy and breast ultrasound (including ultrasound-guided breast biopsy). This designation means greater patient safety because there are fewer repeat examinations, earlier diagnoses and a reduction in false positives.

Radiologist Bert Parker, M.D., who is trained in diagnostic and interventional radiology, noted that "we have been providing the quality of care that meets the standards required to be a Center of Excellence for years," but he said the entire Mammography team "felt it was important to officially attain accreditation by the ACR. The criteria to meet the standard is rigorous, and so much hard work went into it by so many members of our team. Excellence in Breast Care involves physicians, technologists and other team members working together with a common goal: to provide our patients the best possible care."

"I'm so proud of our team and how willingly they accepted this challenge," Riley said. "To pass on the first attempt speaks very highly of everyone."

Terry Jett, manager of the Breast Center, said that the teamwork was gratifying.

"It required the skills of the entire staff to make this happen," she said. "We all worked together to choose the images to submit. Our lead interpreting physician, Timothy Pannell, was extremely helpful, and our director, Julie Riley, also helped us find quality ultrasound images. All of the technologists strove to get quality images for stereotactic accreditation and breast ultrasound."

ACR accreditation is considered the gold standard in the review of a facility's equipment, medical personnel and quality assurance procedures. The breast centers on the Palmetto Health Columbia campuses - Baptist, Baptist Parkridge and Richland - also have this designation.