Peace River Regional Women's Imaging Centers

The Latest in Women's Health

As of December 16th, the Murdock Women's Imaging Center relocated to the Peace River Regional campus and is now known as Peace River Regional's Outpatient Diagnostic Services Center, or ODS.  This center will continue to provide a broad range of diagnostic services and will be dedicated solely to women's health issues and more, including:

• Digital Mammography
• Full-service Outpatient Laboratory
• Ultrasound Stereotactic Breast Biopsy
• Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Electroencephalograms (EEG)
• Electrocardiography (EKG)
• Computed Tomography (CT Scan)
• Bone Density Scans
• Diagnostic X-ray
• Nuclear Medicine

With this transition, we are proud that we have gone completely digital with the acquisition of two, full-field digital mammography units.  One unit is located on the Peace River Regional campus in the ODS Center, while the other is stationed at the North Port HealthPark Imaging Center to better serve women in the south Sarasota county area.

Peace River Regional strongly believes that early detection is the best when it comes to leading the fight against breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in women.  Utilizing GE's third generation digital mammography, physicians now have instantaneous imaging of the entire breast.  This means: Higher quality imaging to detect breast cancer earlier and to diagnose it more accurately than ever before for our physicians, and less time and discomfort for our patients.

Detecting Breast Cancer Early

Did you know that:
*Every three minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and this year 182,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected in the United States. 
*One woman in eight who lives to age 85 will develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
*Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women between the ages of 40 and 55. 
*Seventy percent of all breast cancers are found through breast self-exams.
*Not all lumps are detectable by touch.

We recommend regular mammograms and monthly breast self-exams.  Keep in mind, eight out of ten breast lumps are not cancerous, so if you find a lump, don’t panic.  Call your doctor for an appointment.

Can Breast Cancer Be Found Early?

Mammography is a low-dose X-ray examination that can detect breast cancer up to two years before it is large enough to be felt.  When breast cancer is found early, the five-year survival rate is 96%.  This is good news!  Over 2 million breast cancer survivors are alive in America today. 

The goal of screening examinations for early breast cancer detection is to find cancers before they start to cause symptoms.  Screening refers to tests and examinations used to detect a disease, such as cancer in people who do not have any symptoms.  In contrast, breast cancers found during screening examinations are more likely to be small and still confined to the breast.  Finding a breast cancer as early as possible improves the likelihood that treatment will be successful.  Most doctors feel that early detection tests for breast cancer save many thousands of lives each year, and that many more lives could be saved if even more women and their health care providers took advantage of these tests. 

Evidence supporting mammograms is even stronger than in the past.  In particular, recent evidence has confirmed that mammograms offer substantial benefit for women in their 40s.  Women age 40 and older should have a screening mammogram every year and should continue to do so for as long as they are in good health.

Take Control and Lower Your Risk...Schedule Your Mammogram Today!

Schedule an Appointment

Peace River Regional Medical Center provides you with two convenient Digital Mammography Imaging locations:

Peace River Regional's Outpatient Diagnostic Services Center 
Peace River Regional Medical Center 
2500 Harbor Boulevard
Port Charlotte, Florida 33952
(941) 766-4321

Peace River North Port HealthPark
15121 Tamiami Trail
North Port, Florida 34287
(941) 423-5000