Breast screening wait times to fall

SUMMERSIDE - Improvements have been made to the Prince Edward Island Breast Screening program in an effort to reduce wait times.
Improvements include the installation of three new digital mammography machines, hiring of additional staff, extended hours and a new centralized phone number and booking system.
Prince County Hospital is working on rebooking appointments to a nearer date due to the changes.
Paul Young , the diagnostic imaging manager at PCH, has seen several changes come into effect that will drastically shorten wait times.
"We received a digital mammography machine last year," said Young. "We hired a new technologist in January, Kristin Hamill, and beginning this month we extended our hours."
Those hours were recently extended from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. allowing for additional appointments each day.
Between Queen Elizabeth Hospital and PCH, the improvements should result in an additional 150 appointments per week.
"We're now in the process of phoning everyone and bringing their appointment forward," said Young.
The current wait time for a breast screening appointment is about 12 months. The goal of the P.E.I. Breast Screening program is to reduce the wait time to a maximum of four months. Urgent situations referred by a physician would be seen sooner.
"Being able to reduce breast screen wait times is an important component in our efforts to improve the percentage of Island women who get screened each year," said Jamie MacDonald, provincial director of diagnostic imaging.