ZSFG Celebrates 20 Years of Comprehensive Breast Care
Mary McGinty, Director of Imaging and Pathology at ZSFG, Mark Wilson, MD, Chief of Radiology, Judith Luce, Emeritus Clinical Professor of Medicine, and Grant Colfax, MD, Director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
The AVON Comprehensive Breast Center held a celebration Tuesday to honor and recognize 20 years of visionary care and the incredible staff members who provide the best experience and most current technology to patients, regardless of their ability to pay, their gender, or immigration status.
Mary McGinty, Director of Imaging and Pathology at ZSFG, hosted a moving program in the Center’s Serenity Garden that included remarks from Grant Colfax, MD, Director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health; Mark Wilson, MD, Chief of Radiology; Lori Strachowski, MD, radiologist and AVON Comprehensive Breast Center co-founder; and Bonnie Joe, MD, Chief of Breast Imaging. A longtime patient of the Breast Center, Maria Gallardo de Herrera, shared her story through Alba Centeno, one of the Center’s technologists, who translated Spanish-to-English for Herrera.
“We have a lot of be proud of,” said Strachowski. When she started in 1996, the building did not exist. “This building is a series of trailers that were driven down from Oregon and then put together. But it is more than a building, it is a program and a community – a community of very dedicated mammography technologists, staff, and physicians. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for caring for our patients the way you do.”
“Here’s to another 20 years of fantastic patient care at Avon Center, under our current leadership, with Dr. Bonnie Joe,” said Wilson in his remarks.
When the Center was founded in May 2004, ZSFG had two mammogram machines operating at maximum capacity seven days a week, with long waiting periods for the roughly 5,000 patients who received breast imaging care. The goal was to dramatically increase access to screening mammography for low-income patients, and to serve as many as 10,000 patients per year. With state-of-the-art digital equipment, the Center is accredited by the American College of Radiology in Mammography, Breast Ultrasound, Stereotactic Biopsy, and Breast MR. In fiscal year 2024, the Center provided 7,577 screening mammograms, 2,393 diagnostic mammograms, and 755 biopsies.
After the program, patients, staff, and leaders enjoyed refreshments and toured the Center’s beautiful patient-centered facility and the Mammo-Van, a mobile, digital mammography van that increases accessibility by bringing mammography services to 16 locations throughout San Francisco.
Congratulations and thank you to the ZSFG radiologists, technologists, patient navigators, medical assistants, schedulers, oncologists, and surgeons who continue to deliver comprehensive patient care at the AVON Comprehensive Breast Center.