Blue Mountain Hospital rad tech Danielle Hunt positions the imaging surface on the hospital’s new 3D mammography machine. Having the machine means Grant County women no longer have to drive to Bend to get the best mammograms, Hunt said.

Grant County residents used to have to travel to Central Oregon to take advantage of the latest in mammogram technology.

Not anymore.

Last fall, the Blue Mountain Hospital District purchased a state-of-the-art Selenia Dimensions 3D mammography suite from Hologic, replacing an earlier-generation machine that took two-dimensional images.

“We got her Sept. 13,” said Danielle Hunt, with unmistakable pride in her voice. “It catches cancers a lot sooner.”

Hunt is one of seven radiology techs who work at the John Day hospital and operate the new machine. The imaging process itself, which Hunt described as uncomfortable but not painful, only takes about 3 seconds or so, but the real advantage is in the quality of the images.

Instead of the flat, 2D X-rays the hospital’s old mammography machine produced, Hunt explained, the new one takes dozens of images that show 1mm “slices” of breast tissue. In a process known as tomosynthesis, those images are then digitally stitched together on a computer to create a three-dimensional picture for a radiologist to review. The doctor can also examine individual images to see fine details.

“2D is great, but this is just a lot more information,” Hunt said. “With a 3D (mammogram), they can actually scroll through and get a much better look at the tissues.”

The rad techs at BMH take the images, then transmit them to Central Oregon Radiology Associates in Bend for examination. The radiologists send a letter with the results of the examination to the patient and her doctor.

“It’s pretty quick,“ Hunt said. “They usually read (the mammogram) the same day I’ve done it, and then send the letter out the next day.”

The hope, of course, is that the radiologist gives the woman a clean bill of health. But the Hologic’s 3D images are so good, Hunt said, that they can sometimes detect signs of breast cancer in the early stages, when it is most treatable.

“I’ve had patients where they don’t have to do any chemo or radiation,” she said. “All they have to do is a lumpectomy (and) they’re done.”

Word of the new technology is getting around fast, and patients seem to be taking advantage of it. Before getting the new 3D machine, Hunt said, the hospital was doing around 30 to 40 mammograms a month. Now it’s doing twice as many.

That translates into greater convenience – and possibly better health care – for women in Grant County.

“We had quite a few ladies that were going over to Bend,” Hunt said. “Now they don’t have to travel as far.”

Derek Daly, the CEO of Blue Mountain Hospital District, said that outside of Prineville and Baker City, which are affiliated with large regional health care systems, John Day might be the only small community in Eastern Oregon with its own 3D mammography suite.

“We’re so proud of that,” Daly said. “That’s just been a great investment for Grant County residents.”

Purchasing the machine was a community effort. Most of the $288,688 purchase price came out of the hospital district’s capital budget, Daly said, but $50,000 came from the Blue Mountain Hospital Foundation. In addition to soliciting individual donations, the foundation sponsored a couple of benefit golf tournaments, partnered with local businesses on raffles and worked with the Grant Union and Prairie City high school volleyball teams on “Dig Pink” fundraisers last fall.

Most women start getting mammograms around age 40, but in some cases doctors will advise them to start earlier based on family history or other factors. It’s a preventive procedure, so most insurance plans will cover one mammogram a year at no cost to the patient, Hunt said, with no referral required.

To schedule a mammogram with the Blue Mountain Hospital Radiation Department, call 541-575-4163.

The Blue Mountain Hospital Foundation contributed $50,000 toward the purchase of the hospital’s new 3D mammography machine. Donations to the foundation’s mammography fund came from a variety of sources over a number of years. Among the major contributors were:

• Blue Mountain Healthcare Foundation Golf Scramble: $8,600

• Rally for the Cure Golf Scramble: $3,600

• Prairie City High School Volleyball Team: $1,047

• Blue Mountain Eagle: $9,305

• Grant Union High School Volleyball Team: $10,628

• Solutions CPAs: $3,000

The remaining balance came from proceeds from the foundation’s 2021 raffles along with a number of donations from local individuals and businesses.