Mercy Health Center receives good news

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Mercy Health Center in Fort Scott has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in mammography following a recent survey by the American College of Radiology.

Mercy Health Center's mammography department voluntarily participates in a rigorous review process in order to earn the ACR accreditation seal, Mercy officials said.

"The Radiology Department staff is proud to receive this recognition yet once again," Mercy Director of Imaging Services Becky Williams said. "The ACR accreditation assures two things: First, personnel are well qualified through education and certification and second, equipment is appropriately maintained to meet or exceed quality assurance and safety guidelines."

The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Va., awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after peer-review evaluation of the practice. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. They assess the qualifications of the personnel and the adequacy of the facility's equipment. Surveyors then report their findings to the ACR's Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report.

"By successfully achieving accreditation, the department and staff demonstrate the commitment to offering our community and surrounding areas with the finest in breast imaging care," Williams added.

The ACR is a national organization serving more than 32,000 diagnostic and interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, and nuclear medicine and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.