Doylestown Health expanded access to diagnostic services with the recent opening of its new Clark Center for Breast Imaging.
The Clark Center for Breast Imaging, formerly known as the Women’s Diagnostic Center, opened last week in a new suite on the ground floor of Doylestown Hospital with 5,000 square feet of new space, nearly doubling the size of its former space.
Doylestown Health celebrated with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony where Jim Brexler, president and chief executive officer of Doylestown Health, welcomed guests alongside Joan Parlee, chair of the boards of Doylestown Hospital and Doylestown Health Foundation.
“The diagnostic imaging program is one of our fastest growing services, touching thousands of lives each year, both men and women,” said Brexler.
“Through advanced imaging, we are able to detect breast disease and begin treating it, many times before even symptoms develop. This is life-saving work, and we are proud to be able to invest in making it more readily available for more people than ever before, regardless of their ability to pay.”
Patti Stover, vice president of patient services and chief nursing officer at Doylestown Health, said the new center will be able to serve 2,500 additional patients each year — a 15% increase in volume from the 17,000 served annually by the former Women’s Diagnostic Center.
“The Clark Center for Breast Imaging is the latest example of Doylestown Health’s prevailing dedication to patient- and caregiver-centered design,” said Stover.
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The new space was designed to create a soothing, spa-like atmosphere, which Dr. Michele Kopach, director of the Clark Center, said she hopes helps ease the anxieties of patients with symptoms and encourages more men and women to schedule routine screenings.
“We see over 23,000 women from routine screening mammograms between the hospital site and the Health and Wellness site in Warrington. Screening mammograms are done for patients with no symptoms. Approximately two-thirds of breast cancer we find each year are found through routine screening mammograms,” said Kopach.
“We know there are people out there who are not getting their mammograms when they need them. And our goal is to reduce the reluctance to have a mammogram. This lovely new space is an excellent step toward helping us encourage more women to get screening mammograms,” she added.
The new center includes three 3D mammography rooms, as well as three ultrasound rooms and a larger stereostatic core biopsy room. The former suite housed two mammography rooms and two ultrasound rooms.
Thanks to the additional ultrasound room, screening breast ultrasounds are now more accessible, explained Kopach. Primarily offered to patients with dense breast tissue, the imaging technique was previously difficult to offer on an expanded level due to the amount of time required to perform such screenings as compared to a diagnostic ultrasound.
“It allows us to market something, that I do think is important, because there’s more availability of time. I’d like to continue to educate (patients) on the opportunities to improve their breast health through options like this,” she said.
The $3.7 million project received $1 million in grant funding from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capitol Program, along with support from the Clark family, the Village Improvement Association of Doylestown, Debbie Minford-Dailey and family, Diane B. Glossman, Richard J. Magruder and other individual donors.
In addition to the new suite, project costs included new 3D mammography and ultrasound equipment at the hospital location in Doylestown and the Health and Wellness Center in Warrington.
The Clark Center was named in recognition of the generosity of Angela and Richard Clark, chairs of One Vison: The Campaign for Doylestown Health; as well as their family, Kelly and David Patterson, and Lisa and Steve Wurster.
“Doylestown Health’s donors come from the patients we serve. They are thankful and grateful and appreciative, and they reinvest back into that because they want to give that to others. And the Clark family is the living testament of that,” said Brexler.
This month, the One Vision Campaign reached $91.8 million in contributions toward its $100 million goal by 2023.
Upcoming campaign priority milestones include the Morel Family Foundation Center for Prenatal Care, and the reconstruction of Children’s Village, the early childhood education center on the campus of Doylestown Hospital that was damaged several years ago by a tornado.
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Slated to open this summer, the new prenatal care center is currently under construction, according to Pete McConnell, a spokesperson for Doylestown Health Foundation.
“Much like the Clark Center for Breast Imaging, the new prenatal care center will afford more space for diagnostic testing, privacy, and patient comfort, as well as convenient access from the parking garage,” said McConnell. “The new Center will include the most advanced equipment and technology to ensure a safe pregnancy. This project also includes the Beck Prenatal Classroom, which will be available for prenatal classes.”
Preparations for construction of the new Children’s Village building are set to begin soon, shared McConnell. An exact construction start date is not yet available, but plans are still in place to open the facility by Fall 2023, in time for the school year to begin.
Additional projects for continued hospital improvements through the One Vision Campaign include an expansion and renovation of the Interventional Radiology Department, Pathology Laboratory and the catheterization laboratory in the Gorsky Heart and Vascular Suite, as well as the construction of a new hybrid operating suite.
Plans to create a conference and learning suite in the hospital are also in the works, expanding opportunities to hold conferences and continuing education for the public and clinical staff.
