Women's Imaging at Mercy Medical Center and Women's Imaging at Mercy North Health Center feature private, comfortable suites with all-female staffs to assist you in addressing and monitoring your mammography concerns.

One out of eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Thanks to advanced diagnostic techniques many will go on to live normal, healthy lives. Early detection is key to the successful treatment of breast cancer, so regular breast self-examination is important. Nine out of ten breast lumps are found by women themselves. Though nearly 80 percent of breast lumps are not cancerous, self-examination is important—first to become familiar with your own breast tissue and then for lifelong self-protection. Inform your physician of any changes promptly.

Regular mammography, combined with physician care and breast self-examination, can triple a woman’s odds against breast cancer. Mammography, the keystone of breast cancer screening, can detect cancers two to three years before they can be found on a physical exam. The earlier the breast cancer is found, the more responsive it is to treatment. Many tiny cancers, which are normally only found by mammography, are cured 95 percent of the time.

The best method of early detection of breast tumors is through a combined physical examination and mammogram. While mammography is an excellent diagnostic technique it should be supplemented with professional physical examinations and self-examinations, using the following as a guide:

Our technologists are registered in mammography by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and have had additional training and experience in mammography. Mercy’s Women's Imaging North & South are accredited by the American College of Radiology and are certified by the Food and Drug Administration.

We offer a correlative physical breast assessment to provide clinical information to the radiologist for imaging correlatives to follow. The physical breast assessment consists of visual inspection, manual palpation, complete health history and the documentation of these findings.

It is well accepted in the medical profession that the life-saving benefits of mammography greatly exceed the minimal risk from radiation. Mercy’s low-radiation mammographic equipment is routinely monitored by a medical physicist and emits a radiation dose well below the maximum established by the Amercian College of Radiology and the American Cancer Society.

At Mercy’s Women's Imaging North & South, we try to keep your wait short and comfortable. Our waiting rooms offer a variety of magazines.

For your convenience, we offer after hours and weekend appointments for your mammogram. For more information or to schedule your appointment at either Mercy Medical Center South or Mercy North Health Center, please call 208-288-4630.