Highland Hills Hospital celebrated the opening of the Women’s Center, it’s newest offering for health services.
Months before Highland Hills Hospital opened its doors to the public last July 29, there were plans to make the hospital a premier healthcare facility for Tate Countians and the surrounding areas.
Sitting in a makeshift “office” in what is now the front lobby of the hospital, Josh Hammons, Chief Administrative officer; Jenny Miller, Chief Nursing officer, and Mike Willoughby, director of Ancillary Services strategized on what services were needed to make the hospital a better option for Tate Countians.
One aspect they all strongly agreed upon was the need for women’s services. Tate County is home to 7,500 women aged 40 and above. With recommendations of annual mammographys and bone density tests every two years, the need for services in Tate County was clear. Prior to the opening of the center, Tate Countians were forced to drive out of the area to receive the care they needed.
Last month on Tuesday, Sept. 6, Highland Hills saw the need fulfilled with the opening of the Highland Hills Women’s Center to the public. The center is located inside the hospital at 401 Getwell Drive in Senatobia.
“We are so proud to be able to offer these services,” Hammons said. “We already see the benefit of having the Women’s Center. It’s been amazing to experience the gratefulness from women who have used these services because they don’t have to drive far to have these tests completed.”
The center is complete with a top-rated Fuji Film Aspire Cristalle 3D mammography system. The machine not only used a low dose x-ray dose, produces higher quality images, but perhaps most importantly uses new and improved comfort paddles. Since a major determinant for women to receive mammograms is the uncomfortable nature of the procedure, the comfort paddles aim to make the process as easy as possible to encourage maintaining routine exams.
In addition to the latest in technology that offers the comfort to the patients, the atmosphere created in the Women’s Center is very soft and soothing.
“We wanted to give our patients the most welcoming experience,” Miller said. “Hospitals normally present a stark, harsh atmosphere and we wanted our patients in the Women’s Center to experience the very opposite,” she noted.
Warm, soft mauve curtains and beautiful, white-washed furniture, along with tasteful artwork and wall decorations accent the walls coated in soft pink.
“The investment of mammography equipment for Highland Hills provides technology in the detector that is the best in the industry,” said Karlie Cotter, Women’s Center technologist. “It provides a very sharp, clear concise image that allows radiologists to see breast cancers easier and earlier,” she added.
Because the Women’s Center offers 3D (Digital Breast Tomosynthesis,) the technology allows the technologist to detect small breast cancers. The 3D images reveal more breast cancers than the 2D images. This results in superior diagnostic accuracy with fewer call backs and reduces false positives. There is a magnification tool that allows the technologist to get even greater images.
Cotter said the average length of the exam is between 10 to 15 minutes.
“We are very glad to have Karlie on our staff,” Willoughby said. “She has not only the experience needed to perform these tests, but she also has a heart that truly cares to make sure the patients have the most pleasant experience possible,” he said.
Turnaround time from having the tests performed to having the results in the hands of the healthcare providers and patients is very fast. Within a couple of days, the patients know the results. Not only are the images read by a radiologist, but the radiologist has the tools to see if there are any suspicious areas that have been highlighted by the AI system. Cotter also mails the results to the patient, so they have a copy for their convenience.
Miller also noted convenience is the aim in order to provide better health care to patients.
“Of course as a hospital we want to provide during emergency needs, but we also want to promote health in all areas. Early detection of breast cancer increases chances of survival. We want to remove any barrier to ease that yearly exam,” said Miller. “This means being able to provide in and out service, ease of scheduling, state of the art equipment, comfort and experienced technicians.”
Miller said patients who have established histories with other providers simply need to call the hospital to set up the appointment and the staff at Highland Hills will handle getting copies of past scans and medical history with no added burden to the patient.
“Mammograms are 100 percent covered by insurance for most commercial and government based providers,” said Miller. “For those who are insured, the exam is free with no out of pocket charge to the patient in most cases.”
Miller said that during the month of October in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month, the hospital is offering mammograms to women who are uninsured for a flat rate of $125.
“We hope the public will come see the progress that continues at the hospital,” Miller said. “We initially set out to make this the best hospital Highland Hills can be, and we continue to work hard to improve daily in our patient care,” she added.
Patients are invited to make an appointment with the Women’s Center by calling Cotter at 662-612-0477, Monday through Friday.
