Dr. Jamie B. Patterson, medical director of the Breast Health Center at Kent County Memorial Hospital, discusses the center’s 10-year anniversary, upcoming plans for expansion and what changed at the center as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis.
PBN: The Breast Health Center at Kent Hospital is celebrating its 10th anniversary. How has it changed since its creation a decade ago?
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PATTERSON: The Breast Health Center at Kent is continually improving its services and there’s been a lot of changes since 2010. We’ve made both small and large adjustments keeping pace with, and often even preceding, new national guidelines and evidence-based medical advancements in breast care.
We are one of the only centers in Rhode Island that provides imaging, results and clinical evaluations in a single visit for women with breast issues. For women who need surgery, we offer no-wire surgery and intraoperative injections when needed for added comfort during their experience. Our surgeons utilize oncoplastic surgical approaches – techniques combining cancer surgery and cosmetic surgery – to minimize any disfiguring effects.
We have expanded our providers and support services since opening – adding, for example, on-site plastic surgeons, nurse navigators and advance-practice nurse practioners, as well as a dedicated Survivorship Clinic for those completing their cancer treatment. We’ve also instituted a new Lymphedema Education and Early Detection program to catch any early changes that can signal the potential for arm swelling after treatment.
Lastly, we’ve further consolidated our close collaboration with Women & Infants Hospital and affiliation with Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown [University] and we’ve become more focused on educating the new generation of doctors and now take part in training new surgeons to specialize in breast health.
PBN: What types of services does the center provide, and are there any plans for expansion?
PATTERSON: The Breast Health Center is a collaborative team made up of expert specialty-trained breast health physicians and staff. The center delivers the highest-quality services ranging from breast cancer screening, managing benign breast issues, helping with lactation problems and treating cancers. We strive to provide the best personalized breast care in a private and comfortable location.
We are expanding!
This year we are working on a new high-risk program in combination with Women & Infants, which is planned to open at the end of the year. We haven’t finalized a name yet, but our frontrunner seems to be the Breast Health Center “HOPE Program,” which stands for High-Risk Optimization, Prevention and Education Program. This will be a comprehensive breast program designed to develop customized risk-management and long-term surveillance plans. The program adjusts with the needs of each person over time in order to provide a cancer risk assessment, individual screening needs with mammograms, ultrasounds and/or MRIs as needed, education regarding modifiable breast cancer risk factors, and measures to prevent cancerous changes and quickly address them should they occur.
We’re also welcoming a new team member in August. We’re looking forward to Dr. Micaela Weaver, a fellowship-trained breast surgeon, joining us at both the Kent and Women & Infants Breast Health Centers.
Lastly, we’re working on streamlining our patient experience from the moment they step in the door for their mammogram. We’re pairing with the women’s imaging department and doctors to make it easier and faster for women to receive their mammogram results and any additional imaging or biopsies they may need if anything is found. Often, imaging results are available same-day or next-day and a definitive diagnosis for anything that is found can be provided within the week. We want to take some of the anxiety out of screening by facilitating their experience and keeping them informed and involved each step of the way.
Stay tuned! Our new website and upcoming changes are expected soon.
PBN: Is the Breast Health Center connected with Women & Infants Hospital, as well as Kent Hospital?
PATTERSON: Yes we are. Our center was initially created as collaboration with Women & Infants Breast Health Center as a way to provide the best-quality breast care in a convenient location, without having to travel to Boston or even Providence. Since then, our connection has solidified even more; we’ve really come to be an affiliate extension, or additional site, for Women & Infants.
All of our breast cancer patients benefit from the input of the experts at both locations through our joint Multidisciplinary Tumor Board. This is a weekly meeting of the providers from both locations that reviews each new case to ensure the input and suggestions of all medical subspecialties involved in our patients’ care, including medical oncologists, breast surgeons, plastic surgeons, radiation oncologists, radiologists, pathologists and geneticists. Additionally, several of our providers actually see patients at both locations.
PBN: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the center?
PATTERSON: The viral pandemic has affected us all, but thankfully the Breast Health Center at Kent hasn’t had any cases or exposures so far. We’ve been very proactive to ensure the safety of both our patients and our staff. Our facilities go through sanitization every four hours and our crews are constantly cleaning between each patient visit.
Additionally, all staff members and patients are screened regarding symptoms and exposure, go through temperature checks when arriving and are required to wear masks to protect each other. We never closed our doors to patients that needed us, but we have been offering more telehealth visits for anyone who prefers them.
As you can imagine, some of our patients, especially our cancer patients, are part of the vulnerable group of people who are at high risk of developing severe disease from COVID but don’t always have the option to stay home when they need care. We take that seriously and do everything we can to keep them safe while they’re with us.
PBN: Are there plans in place for patient care to continue if the virus surges again in Rhode Island?
PATTERSON: If Rhode Island sees another COVID surge, we’re prepared. Since May/June, we’ve started to see more patients comfortable with in-person visits, but if the incidence rises again, we would expect that to reverse. In some ways, how we treat patients is affected by their risk of exposure or illness from the virus, too.
We’ve worked side-by-side with Women & Infants, Rhode Island Hospital and other nationally recognized medical professional groups to develop new clinical guidelines to help us safely treat our patients if the virus becomes a significant threat. We’ve made some innovative changes, but we’re always putting our patients first and if the pandemic worsens, we’ll be ready.
Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.
