Cherokee County Celebrates Opening of Women’s Imaging Suite

A new Women’s Imaging Suite that officially opened Thursday at Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center provides women in northeast Alabama easier access to lifesaving mammograms and also represents Atrium Health Floyd’s continued commitment to expand services at the rural hospital.

“We have been successful in this era when rural hospitals are closing everywhere,” said Kurt Stuenkel, Atrium Health Floyd president. His remarks were made during the ribbon-cutting for the new, $1 million suite that also provides DEXA scans, which measure bone density, an important diagnostic tool in the prevention of osteoporosis.

Atrium Health Floyd has managed the hospital since June 2018, investing more than $15.5 million in the facility and Emergency Medical Services in Cherokee County.

“​If it were not for Atrium Health Floyd, we would not still have a hospital,” said Joy Perry, executive director of the Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce. “We are truly, truly grateful, and this probably makes the third or fourth time I have been out here for a ribbon-cutting.”

Perry pointed out that, for her, the suite has a personal impact. It means she will no longer have to drive to Rome from Cherokee County to get a mammogram.

Kay Chumbler, a lifelong Cherokee County resident and chair of hospital board, referred to the new suite as a dream come true.

“As a lifelong resident of this county, I can only say to you that ‘grateful’ is the operative word for the day,” Chumbler said. “In 2018, when Floyd Medical took over this campus, our hospital was less than a month from closing. When so many rural hospitals are closing, ours is growing, expanding, offering new lines of service and that is another thing to be grateful for as well.”​​ 

Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among women in the United States, and an estimated 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.

“What we have installed here is the newest, latest and greatest 3D mammography machine,” said Aimee Griffin, vice president of professional services at Atrium Health Floyd. “This unit brings the most advanced breast screening technology available to the residents of Cherokee County.”

“We also added a bone densitometry unit,” Griffin continued. “Another really common thing that impacts women as they age is osteoporosis and the risk of having spine fractures, hip fractures and wrist fractures if they have a fall. So, it is really important that we are watching their bone density. There are lots of different therapies we can do to help preserve that.”

Griffin said a month after the suite’s opening, it has already performed 150 screening mammograms. Of those 150 mammograms, nine women were told that their screening was abnormal.

“I am thankful to say so far we haven’t found any breast cancers, and we were able, within 24 hours, to get those screening results back to the women,” she added.

Griffin said the suite is committed to honoring the same “Know in 24″ promise pledged by The Breast Center at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center.

Paul Brock, M.D., a general surgeon with Harbin Clinic who was instrumental in the creation of The Breast Center, told the crowd that diagnosing breast cancer has come a long way.
“When I first started practicing in the late 1980s women would get to me usually four to six weeks after they had been told they had an abnormal mammogram.

“It occurred to me at the time there had to be a better way to do this,” Brock said. “One of the biggest obstacles was finding a way to get the components of the mammogram and the clinical breast exam as close together as humanly possible.”

The new suite at Cherokee represents the continued success of the Know in 24 pledge, Brock said.

To make an appointment at the suite, call The Breast Center at Atrium Health Floyd at 706-509-6840.