St. Luke’s University Health Network is expanding access to diagnostic breast imaging with the opening of a new Women’s Imaging Center at St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus.

“This investment in advanced imaging technology is a reflection of St. Luke’s commitment to providing the very best individualized breast care for each patient based on their unique history and risk factors,” said St. Luke’s Michele Brands, Network Director of Women’s Imaging.

The new diagnostic services at Bethlehem include:

• Diagnostic mammography on GE HealthCare’s Senographe Pristina featuring superior diagnostic accuracy for 3D diagnostic breast tomosynthesis at the same low dose as a 2D full-field digital mammography, the lowest for all thicknesses among the major systems available in the marketplace.

• Stereotactic and Ultrasound-guided biopsies

• Diagnostic Breast Ultrasound

• Screening mammograms

The opening of the new center at the Bethlehem Campus will provide patients with an additional, centrally-located diagnostic imaging option.

“St. Luke’s is committed to improving access to mammography and breast ultrasound services for women in the Lehigh Valley,” said Karl N. Yaeger, MD, Division Chief - Women’s Imaging. “By increasing diagnostic access for patients at the newly renovated Bethlehem campus, we can now expand access to the One Stop Breast Clinic services at the Regional Breast Center in Center Valley.”

In 2022, St. Luke’s became the first and only United States health system to operate a One-Stop Clinic, serving as a national model for how to help accelerate breast cancer care through a multi-modality approach.

The One-Stop Clinic for Breast model, which originated at the Gustave Roussy Cancer Center in France, has been shown to improve clinical workflow and speed up breast cancer diagnosis and treatment planning. St. Luke’s offers One-Stop Breast Clinic services at its Regional Breast Centers in Center Valley and Monroe County.

“St Luke’s pioneered a novel approach to integrated breast cancer care with One-Stop Clinic, helping to accelerate the time to diagnosis and treatment with the aim of saving patient lives. Expanding diagnostic services to Bethlehem is an exciting next step to improving access to care in the community,” said Pooja Pathak, VP and General Manager, Global Mammography at GE Healthcare. “We are pleased that GE HealthCare’s Senographe Pristina 3D mammography system is helping support St. Lukes’ commitment to ensuring patients receive the diagnostic services they need, when they need them.”