Affinity Phyllis Leach Breast Center
In 2003, the Leach family established a permanent endowment fund for the center and it was renamed the Phyllis Leach Breast Center. Mrs. Leach is a long-term breast cancer survivor who continues to encourage women to be proactive in the prevention of breast cancer and in seeking care and treatment.
Today, the Phyllis Leach Breast Center offers women a high quality, full service program. Diagnostic continuity of care is emphasized with screening, diagnostics and biopsies all done within the center. Comfort and privacy are also important considerations. The center is located in its own suite with a separate waiting room. Staff includes a medical director, primary mammogram reader, and a breast diagnostician. Each is board-certified and has received special training in breast care. The technologists have all been certified as mammography technologists by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and are required to participate in continuing education to keep their skills and knowledge up-to-date. The center itself is accredited by the American College of Radiology and the FDA's Mammography Quality Standards Act.
The Phyllis Leach Breast Center offers state-of-the-art diagnostic mammography as well as breast ultrasound, breast biopsy and ductography. Digital mammography, the newest advance in breast cancer screening, is now available. Instead of film, as in conventional mammography, the system uses a digital receptor and a computer. Examination times are shorter as the images are available immediately on a monitor, eliminating the film processing step. The magnification, orientation, and the brightness of the image can be adjusted by the radiologist to more clearly see specific areas. It is especially effective for women age 50 and younger or women with dense breast tissue. Investment earnings from the Phyllis Leach Breast Center Endowment and gifts to Mercy Health Foundation from many other donors made it possible to bring this technology to the Phyllis Leach Breast Center in early 2008.
The early detection of breast cancer gives a woman more options for treatment and greatly enhances her chances to live a long and productive life. Sterotactic and mammotone breast biopsy are both used at the Phyllis Leach Breast Center. These procedures are effective, safer and less expensive than traditional surgical biopsy.
For women diagnosed with cancer, the Woman to Woman program offers support as they make care decisions and come to terms with this life threatening disease. Look Good … Feel Better is also offered. This program helps women living with cancer improve their self image by teaching beauty techniques to help them overcome the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
What You Can Do to Fight Breast Cancer
Philanthropy plays an important role in assuring that the Breast Center continues to offer education, screening, high quality medical care, the latest technology, and support for those diagnosed with breast cancer. Technology, in particular, changes rapidly and is very expensive. In this era of rising health care costs, philanthropy can bridge the gap between lean hospital budgets and capital needs.
Whether it is a contribution to the Affinity Phyllis Leach Breast Center Endowment Fund or for a particular piece of equipment, outreach to low income women, or community education, philanthropy does make a difference. Mercy Health Foundation often receives gifts for the Breast Center as a memorial to a woman who lost the battle with breast cancer or in honor of a woman who is a survivor. It is a wonderful way to recognize these courageous individuals.
For more information, call Mercy Health Foundation at (920) 223-0520 or send an e-mail to mhf@affinityhealth.org
Photo: Phyllis Leach (center) with breast cancer survivors (left) Virginia Lisek, Ginny Kippa, Ione Ryan, Beth Wyman, Xandy Kloeckl and Sally Cuttill
