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KRMC Now Offers MRIs in the Fight against Breast Cancer

Kingman Regional Medical Center (KRMC) announced today that it has installed special equipment that enables magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast on it’s state-of-the-art 3T MRI, which is the most advanced MRI system in the region. A breast MRI is an imaging test that can help physicians detect tumors in certain women with a high-risk of breast cancer.

The ability to perform breast MRI complements KRMC’s new “Catch It Early” initiative. KRMC’s goal with this initiative is to detect breast cancer as early as possible among women in Mohave County, when the cancer is easier to treat and the chance of survival is greatest.
MRI imaging uses a powerful magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed pictures of internal body structures. MRI does not use ionizing radiation (x-rays). Breast MRI involves special equipment, which includes a coil that sends and receives radio frequency signals to produce 3-dimensional images of the breast. The scan is done with the woman lying on her stomach on a special table with openings that let the breasts rest in wells surrounded by the coil.

MRI of the breast is not a replacement for mammography or ultrasound imaging but rather a supplemental tool for detecting and staging breast cancer and other breast abnormalities in certain high-risk women. According to new guidelines by the American Cancer Society, “Certain women with an especially high risk of developing breast cancer should get MRI scans along with their yearly mammogram. The two tests together give doctors a better chance of finding breast cancer early in these women.”

KRMC’s “Catch It Early” program provides uninsured/underinsured women free breast cancer screening with advanced imaging technologies (digital mammography and MRI), which can improve the chances of detecting early-stage breast cancers. With this program, KRMC hopes to provide free breast cancer screening services to over 450 women over the next year.

The “Catch It Early” program leverages different funding sources in order to cover the cost of screening services. Those funding sources include a grant over $65,000 from the Phoenix Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, $75,000 from KRMC, and $34,000 in state and federal funding, which is allocated to the Regional Center for Border Health for the Well Woman Healthcheck Program. For more information about the Catch it Early program, contact the Well Woman Healthcheck Program toll-free at 866-462-6667.

Kingman Regional Medical Center provides a full range of health and wellness services, including a beautiful wellness and fitness center, a primary care physician practice (Cerbat Medical Center), advanced medical programs in cardiology, cancer, and rehabilitation, and home health and hospice care. KRMC has 213 licensed beds and is Joint Commission accredited. The hospital employs over 1,200 employees, 150 volunteers, and 100 physicians/ allied health professionals who embrace our hospital's non-profit mission of "Serving Our Community with Compassion and Commitment." We are also honored to serve as a teaching hospital in affiliation with Midwestern University to train doctors specializing in family practice, dermatology and emergency medicine.