Latest Digital Imaging Slated For Breast Center With Grant From Senator Bonacic

Benedictine Hospital will soon convert from analog mammography to full field digital mammography with the help from a $250,000 grant from Senator John Bonacic (R. District 42). The digital system will provide the community with the latest in breast imaging.

“The new system’s extraordinarily sharp images, combined with instant availability, present a significant opportunity for better, more efficient healthcare,” says Thomas A. Dee, President and CEO of Benedictine Hospital.

“Patient centered healthcare means offering quality medical services combined with up to date equipment. Benedictine Hospital is raising the standard of healthcare in Ulster County by purchasing a digital mammography system, and I am pleased to support those efforts,” Senator Bonacic said.


“Faster service is but one of the advantages. By far the biggest advantage is that the new system will allow technicians to magnify views and manipulate images. The end result is that many cancers may be detected earlier and provide significantly different treatment options. With such early identification, a woman may not have to have as a aggressive surgery; she may not have to have lymph nodes removed; or have to have chemotherapy; she may not have to lose her hair or be ill from being treated,” says Souzan El-Eid, MD and Director of the Fern Feldman Breast Center.


In 2005 Benedictine Hospital, designated a Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons, opened its Cancer Center. Together with its cancer support programs, the Fern Feldman Anolick Breast Center and its involvement in numerous clinical trials, Benedictine Hospital is helping to lead the way toward the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer for the Hudson River Valley.