About the Phyllis Leach Breast Center
When it opened in January of 1993, the Mercy Medical Center Breast Center in Oshkosh was the second full-service breast center in Wisconsin. Dr. Eric Wilson of Radiology Associates of the Fox Valley led the 1990 initiative to develop a stand-alone breast center. The Mercy concept was based on the Susan G. Komen Breast Center in Peoria, Ill., which was one of two stand-alone breast centers in the nation at the time.
The Leach Family Gift
In 2003, the Leach family established a permanent endowment fund for the Breast Center and it became the Phyllis Leach Breast Center. Mrs. Leach is a long-term breast cancer survivor who encourages women to be proactive in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.
The Center Today
Today, the Phyllis Leach Breast Center offers women in Northeast Wisconsin a high quality, full service program. Screening, diagnostics and biopsies are done within the comfort and privacy of the Breast Center’s own suite. Staff includes a medical director, primary mammogram reader and breast diagnostician. Each is board-certified with special training in breast care. The technologists are all certified as mammography technologists by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists. The American College of Radiology and the FDA's Mammography Quality Standards Act both certified the Breast Center.
State-of-the-Art Breast Care
The Phyllis Leach Breast Center offers state-of-the-art diagnostic mammography as well as breast ultrasound, breast biopsy and ductography. Digital mammography, the newest advance in breast cancer screening, is now available in the Phyllis Leach Breast Center. Instead of film, as in conventional mammography, the system uses a digital receptor and a computer. Examination times are shorter as the images are available immediately on a monitor, eliminating the film processing step. The magnification, orientation and the brightness of the image can be adjusted by the radiologist to more clearly see specific areas. It is especially effective for women age 50 and under or women with dense breast tissue. Investment earnings from the Phyllis Leach Breast Center Endowment and gifts to Mercy Health Foundation from many other donors made it possible to bring this technology to the Phyllis Leach Breast Center in early 2008.
Support Programs
The Look Good … Feel Better program helps women living with cancer improve their self image by teaching beauty techniques that combat the side effects of treatment.
Community outreach has always been an integral part of the Breast Center's programming. In 1992, we introduced the annual Evening for Women seminar on breast health. The Breast Center also provides screening programs for the underserved.
What You Can Do to Fight Breast Cancer
Donations ensure that the Breast Center continues to offer education, screening, medical care and support for those with breast cancer. Donations do make a difference, whether by contributing to the Phyllis Leach Breast Center Endowment Fund, sponsoring educational classes or purchasing specific equipment. Technology changes rapidly and is very expensive, but gifts can bridge the gap between lean hospital budgets and capital needs.
Contributions are a wonderful way to recognize the courageous individuals in your life who are successfully fighting breast cancer, as well as those who have lost the battle.
For more information, call Mercy Health Foundation at (920) 223-0520 or send an e-mail to mhf@affinityhealth.org.
