3-D Mammography Coming Soon

Mammography-back2The Bear Lake Valley Health Care Foundation and the Bear Lake Memorial Hospital Auxiliary have started fundraising for a mammography suite at Bear Lake Memorial Hospital. It is estimated that a new digital 3D mammography machine and suite renovations will cost just over $400,000. We will be one of two 3-D machines in Idaho. Plans are to secure the equipment in the Fall of 2016 and take appointments in November.

Currently, the only mammography services available to the residents of Bear Lake Valley is a mobile unit that comes once each month. For the past twenty years, this service has been provided by Portneuf Medical Center. While Portneuf Medical Center has been good to work with and very accommodating, the fact is that one day per month does not fit all schedules. The mobile unit that we have been using has equipment that is outdated and will be discontinued in the near future. This will leave Bear Lake Valley with no local mammography services.

Idaho women are among the Nation’s lowest obtaining annual mammography screenings. Bear Lake County is ranked 34th out of the 44 counties in Idaho.

Bear Lake Memorial Hospital feels confident that making this service available on a full-time basis could significantly increase the number of women getting their annual scans performed. History shows when a neighboring hospital opened their in-house mammography unit their utilization more than doubled.
Let’s work together to catch breast cancer early!

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