Breast Care Center campaign begins

Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, June 25, 2009

With breast cancer touching thousands of lives in Niagara County, Mount St. Mary’s Hospital and Health Center last week launched a $1 million campaign to raise funds to bring state-of-the-art breast cancer detection equipment to Niagara County and the establishment of the Mount St. Mary’s Breast Care Center.

Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer Judith A. Maness, FACHE, was joined by Campaign Honorary Chairwoman Mary Montani of Lewiston, Campaign Chairman Robert Minicucci of Health System Services, Chief of Diagnostic Imaging Dr. Peter Ferin, and Mount St. Mary’s Foundation Chairman Michael Vitch of CompuMail in launching the fundraising campaign.

At the event, Minicucci announced the receipt of leadership gifts in the amount of $166,000 to help launch the effort.

“Currently, residents of our community must travel outside of the county for diagnostic procedures that are routine in many communities,” said Maness. “With the establishment of our Breast Care Center, we will bring a comprehensive approach to breast care for all of the women of Niagara that will include digital mammography and Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging, which is the state-of-the-art imaging technique that has proven to be an effective tool in the early detection of breast cancer.”

More than $1 million will be needed for the purchase of the equipment and renovation of facilities inside the Mount St. Mary’s Imaging Center on its Lewiston campus to make the Breast Health Center a reality.

For information on the campaign or to make a donation, contact the Mount St. Mary’s Foundation at 298-2166 or 298-2143.