MultiCare Health System

World-class breast services center coming to Tacoma in 2009

MultiCare Health System is partnering with two other leading health care providers in the South Sound region to create a world-class center in Tacoma that will provide a full suite of advanced screening and diagnostic breast services for women.

MultiCare, Franciscan Health System and TRA Medical Imaging – the largest providers of breast-imaging services in the region – are collaborating to establish the Carol Milgard Breast Center. The unique, state-of-the-art center will open in early 2009.

The Carol Milgard Breast Center is named to honor the spirit of a woman who was a long-time Tacoma resident, philanthropist, and 30-year survivor of breast cancer. The Gary E. Milgard Family Foundation has committed $5 million toward development of this center of excellence.

The center will be:

• The facility of choice for community providers to obtain accurate and timely diagnosis of breast disease for their patients.
• A gathering place for multidisciplinary medical teams to discuss every facet of breast diagnosis and treatment.
• A magnet that attracts highly trained and specialized radiologists, technologists and other experts who are dedicated to excellence in breast care.

Its services will include:

• Digital mammography
• Breast ultrasound
• Breast MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
• Breast biopsy (including stereotactic, ultrasound-guided and MRI-guided biopsy)
• Bone density services

“The creation of this center is the realization of a dream that we have been working toward for years,” says Khai Tran, MD, who is medical director of mammography and women’s imaging at TRA Medical Imaging in Tacoma. “With this center, we will be able to provide a level of care for the community that will be unsurpassed in Seattle or anywhere else.

“By combining a comfortable, caring environment with the newest technology and highly trained and specialized staff, we will be able to focus on helping women through what is a most stressful time,” Dr. Tran adds.

The Carol Milgard Breast Center will be conveniently located at 4525 S. 19th Street, near Highway 16, in Tacoma. It will serve residents of Tacoma, Pierce County and the South Sound in a compassionate, respectful atmosphere that welcomes all women regardless of socioeconomic status.

The center, with its singular focus on breast screening and diagnosis, will employ board-certified radiology physicians specially trained in breast imaging. Also, the center will comply with best practices for care established by the Mammography Quality Standards Act approved by Congress in 1992, as well as guidelines recommended by the American Cancer Society.