Medical Center to get new mammogram machine

The Wrangell Medical Center will be purchasing a new mammography machine for the hospital that will be paid for entirely through grants.

The machine, which takes x-rays of breast tissue and is used to screen for breast cancer, will cost $99,999, and WMC has received $100,000-worth of grants to buy it.

The grants came from a number of organizations including Alaska Run for Women, American Seafoods, First Bank and Fred Meyers. The largest grant WMC received to purchase the mammography machine came from the Denali Commission in the amount of $43,000.

At last week’s meeting, the WMC Board approved the purchase of the machine. WMC Board Vice President Jim Nelson thanked hospital staff responsible for gathering the funding necessary to purchase the equipment.

WMC Chief Executive Officer Noel Selle-Rea said he believes now every piece of major medical equipment at the hospital has been updated or replaced within the last four years.