Advanced equipment graces renovated space
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Auburn Community Hospital already operated mammography equipment. However, thanks to funding from a Transformation Grant from New York state, the facility now has a freshly renovated space boasting high-tech equipment that makes Auburn a one-stop-shop for imaging and biopsy.
“Mammography technology changes at an extremely rapid pace,” said Josh Alexander, chief operating officer at Auburn Community Hospital. “The amount of radiation these machines give is much less.”
Technicians first perform 3D topographic views with the GE Pristina Full Field Digital Mammography System and then use that raw data and make 2D views from those images. Patients do not have to have radiation twice, so the new equipment minimizes exposure.
But that doesn’t mean that the equipment offers poor quality images. Alexander said that “the image quality is immensely better” than the old equipment. Women with dense breast tissue can struggle to receive clear mammography. The equipment delivers clear 3D images, which can help providers improve care.
The new equipment also offers breast biopsy capability, which the previous equipment did not. Patients requiring a biopsy can have it done in the same space. Alexander isn’t aware of any other facility in Auburn offering breast biopsy except Diagnostic Imaging Center.
The cost of the equipment and imaging suite renovation was more than $2 million. Auburn Community has two of the new systems, enabling the hospital to accept a greater number of women for mammography. The hospital was performing around 650 mammograms quarterly and now does around 700-plus, with an increase of 10%-15% over the next few months.
The new suite offers a clean, fresh space for performing screening and procedures.
“It’s a much nicer space to be in,” Alexander said. “It’s all Article 28 space, which is the cream of the crop for hospital space. It’s all private. Patients can have complete privacy.”
The hospital renovated existing space that used to function as a pain management center. The project began around the fourth quarter of 2024 and the suite opened in March 2025.
“It’s about continuity of care,” Alexander said. “All the records stay here. It helps with the stress of that. We can have a quick turn-around, too.”
Auburn also has a general surgeon who can perform lumpectomy. For patients who need this procedure, all of their care, from mammography to biopsy to lumpectomy, can be performed at Auburn.
“Auburn Community Hospital has done it again by keeping their pulse on what our community needs by building this beautiful women’s health center,” said Kelly Mosher, an interventional radiological technologist at Auburn Community, at the ribbon cutting ceremony. “I’m so proud to be an employee here. It is so nice to have one-stop shopping, have your mammogram, and get quick results. I’ve worked at many different hospitals. This is the nicest women’s center.”