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Tucked just steps away from the hustle and bustle of the Pike, a newly designed center with a spa-like atmosphere is promising to change the experience of patients with breast imaging needs, including mammography.
“When it comes to breast imaging in the 21st century, the Lee Bell Center for Breast Imaging will be as good as it gets,” said Robyn Birdwell, MD, director of Breast Imaging at BWH. The Bell Center—constructed with a $1million donation from Lee Bell and her husband, former BWH Board Chairman Michael Bell—opens to patients July 3.
The center’s waiting area has the serene look and feel of a spa so patients feel a sense of calm when they arrive. Former breast cancer patients were consulted about the design of the new space, and suggested that the waiting area be separate from the busy reception area; large glass panels with pressed greenery inside do just the trick.
Aesthetics aren’t the center’s only distinguishing quality. The Bell Center doubles the amount of space from Breast Imaging’s previous location and brings together breast cancer screening and diagnostic services in one location, increasing efficiency and collaboration among care providers.
Providers at the center aim to schedule multiple tests for patients on the same day if necessary. “If we see something suspicious on a mammogram or MRI, we’d like to follow up the same day with an ultrasound or biopsy,” said Jeanne Staunton, RT, manager of Breast Imaging. “That’s our goal.”
Beyond the reception and waiting areas, patients will appreciate the privacy created by individual changing areas with lockers outside each exam room. Special consultation rooms enable doctors and patients to discuss in private exam results and treatment.
At the end of the summer, BWH breast surgeons will move into a renovated space next to the Bell Center to enable collaboration among specialists. This fall, the Bell Center will offer on-site breast magnetic resonance imaging. This test, which produces detailed, cross-sectional images without radiation, is used to follow patients with genetic mutations that make them susceptible to breast cancer, find certain types of cancer that may be undetectable by mammogram, closely monitor women who have had cancer and guide biopsies.
“The Bell Center demonstrates Brigham and Women’s profound commitment to women’s health,” Steven Seltzer, MD, chairman of Radiology, said. “It is one of the only comprehensive breast imaging centers in the country.”
BWH patients and some from the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center will receive treatment at the center.