Mammography technologist Amber Dreiling talks about the Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s digital mammography units in the old wing of the hospital’s Breast Center at LMH South, 3500 Clinton Place. The digital mammography unit is one of two that the Breast Center received as a part of a 00,000 remodeling project.

Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s Breast Center has received a makeover.

The 2,300-square-foot space inside LMH South, 3500 Clinton Place, has been remodeled with new furniture, flooring, fixtures and a fresh coat of paint.

“We have totally remodeled our mammography area and created a very nice and, hopefully, calm area for our patients,” said Ellen Shobe, a mammography technologist.

The 6-year-old Breast Center serves about 12,000 people per year. Employees said the reconfiguration of space should provide more privacy for patients. It also should reduce the amount of time that they have to wait because there are more dressing rooms and two new digital mammography units.

The Breast Center received the new machines, which cost about $300,000 apiece, in March, just before the remodeling project began.

“Our old mammography units used a film and a screen, and we had to place the cassettes in the unit, take an X-ray, pull the cassette out and then go to a processor and process the image,” Shobe said. “Our new units are all digital. So, we still do the mammogram exam exactly the same way. The only difference now is that we get a digital computerized image within 30 seconds of taking the image.”

Amy Alexander, LMH radiology director, said not only is the process quicker, but digital mammography units provide a clearer picture as well.

“Digital provides patients with the highest quality of care in the prevention and early detection of breast cancer,” she said.

Radiologists and doctors can adjust the brightness of the images and zoom in and out on certain areas — something they couldn’t do before. The images also can be shared among health professionals at the click of a button.

The Breast Center isn’t the only LMH facility that’s getting the new high-tech equipment. Beginning June 29, mammograms will be offered for the first time at LMH Imaging West, 4525 W. Sixth St.

Alexander is hoping the additional location will reduce the wait time to get an appointment for a mammogram. Now, the wait is about six weeks at the Breast Center, but that’s partly due to the remodeling project.

By Tuesday, the Breast Center is expected to be finished and ready to be unveiled to the public during an open house from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

While the Breast Center and LMH Imaging West received digital mammography units and other upgrades, the Imaging Services Department on the first floor of LMH is also receiving a facelift as part of the overall $1.7 million project.

“It was kind of a small, and in my honest opinion, ugly room, and we are just expanding that and making it a little more patient-friendly,” Alexander said.

That project is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.