RIMI reminds R.I. women of mammogram importance

WARWICK – During October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Rhode Island Medical Imaging Inc. is putting out calls for women to get back on track with annual mammograms.

“Mammograms save lives,” said Dana Alexander Nolfe, RIMI’s chief marketing officer. “We encourage women over 40 to get their screening and assure them it is safe to do so. We continue to take the utmost precautions in masking, cleaning and distancing to ensure the safety of our patients, doctors and staff.”

According to the American Cancer Society, more than 1,000 Rhode Islanders will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and about 120 will die from the disease.

Studies, including two in Massachusetts, have shown that many women put off mammograms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A Massachusetts General Hospital study found that 31.5% of women surveyed delayed their breast cancer screening, and researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School reported dramatic drops in mammograms from March through May of 2020 as compared with the same time span in 2019.

RIMI has earned a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation from the American College of Radiology and offers breast health services at imaging locations across the state.

Elizabeth Graham is a PBN contributing writer.