Jennie Edmundson Hospital Designated an ACR Breast Imaging Center of Excellence

COUNCIL BLUFFS — Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital has been designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR).

By awarding facilities the status of a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, the ACR recognizes breast imaging centers that have earned accreditation in mammography, breast MRI, stereotactic breast biopsy and breast ultrasound (including ultrasound-guided breast biopsy).

“Mammograms and our other diagnostic tools are the best systems we have available to women in western Iowa,” said Sheri Holub, imaging manager at Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital. “Our images meet all the standards, as evidenced by this honor. By providing such a high level of care to our patients and quality tools to our providers, our imaging team is a critical component of the diagnostic and treatment process.”

The Methodist Jennie Edmundson Hospital Breast Health Center offers many unique benefits, including a personalized approach to each woman’s care plan. This unique approach includes weekly breast tumor conferences that bring together the skills and experience of many specialists, including general and reconstructive surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and nurses. These specialists collaborate to discuss diagnoses and confirm the best possible course of treatment for every patient.

The center also features nurse navigators who coordinate care for patients and help them navigate the many appointments and health care choices they will face during treatment.

The Breast Health Center has been recognized for excellence by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), a quality-assurance program administered by the American College of Surgeons. Methodist Jennie Edmundson’s was the first breast center in the region to receive this level of endorsement and recertification. 

Peer-review evaluations conducted in each breast imaging modality by board-certified physicians and expert medical physicists have determined that the facility has achieved high practice standards in image quality, personnel qualifications, facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs.

The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 36,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists, with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging, radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.