North Valley receives $150K for breast exam technology
A local family has donated $150,0000 to North Valley Hospital as part of an effort to help bring up-to-date breast screening technology to Whitefish.
The gift from the Broussard family will go toward the hospital’s $500,000 goal to secure a 3-D mammography machine. Hospital officials have said their current equipment is two-dimensional and at the end of its life.
Alan Satterlee, executive director of the North Valley Hospital Foundation, said a Digital Breast Tomosynthesis unit for the hospital’s imaging department will improve the accuracy of screenings for women and men, leading to a reduction in false positive tests.
“We would like to recognize the Broussard family for their continued leadership and generosity in providing philanthropic support to health related projects in the Flathead Valley,” Satterlee said in a statement released Monday.
The hospital hopes to have the breast exam equipment by the end of the year.
The Broussards also agreed to lead the campaign as fundraising efforts continue.
The project to upgrade imaging services at North Valley Hospital is a partnership with Kalispell Regional Medical Center’s Bass Breast Center as well as Northwest Imaging, a private group of radiologists.
The North Valley Hospital Foundation created a committee of volunteers to help lead the campaign. This committee, still in need of more volunteers, meets twice a month to organize events with employees, the hospital and the community.
The North Valley foundation will also participate in the Whitefish Community Foundation’s Great Fish Community Challenge, where it hopes to raise the remaining $300,000 needed for the updated technology. The community challenge kicks off July 20.
“I hope that our community of employees, associated physicians, and other healthcare workers in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Eureka can help make this project a reality,” said Christina Thomas, chief executive officer of North Valley Hospital.
Gifts made to the Great Fish Community Challenge and earmarked for the North Valley Hospital Foundation will go directly to the project.
The Broussard family supports many breast cancer related causes through Halt Cancer at X, a charity started by Sarah Broussard in 2012.
Halt Cancer at X, which is associated with The Event at Rebecca Farm, funds local and national cancer research projects and has granted approximately $400,000 to date. This year, The Event at Rebecca Farm will be July 19-23.
For more information about donating or volunteering for the North Valley campaign committee, call Pam Ellis, North Valley Hospital Foundation Executive Assistant, at (406) 863-3630 or Alan Satterlee, North Valley Hospital Foundation Executive Director, at (406) 863-3560 or email foundation@nvhosp.org.
Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.