A look back: Maroondah Clinic moves into the Eastern Health Breast and Cancer Centre

After 24 years at number 24 Grey Street East Ringwood, Maroondah BreastScreen has moved to its new home in the Eastern Health Breast and Cancer Centre. The new state of the art centre opened for screening and assessment services today and brings together breast screening, breast oncology, medical care plus important support services.

Maroondah BreastScreen has been providing vital breast screens for women since 1994, when it began with a handful of staff and a passionate and engaged community. Since then over 710,000 breast screens have been provided for more than 170,000 women.

Maroondah BreastScreen Program Manager Michelle Clemson remembers how the service started in one weatherboard house and over time expanded into two and is proud of being a part of the local community. “One of the wonderful things about a service operating at the same site with so many of the same staff over a long period of time is the relationships that have developed between our regular screeners and our staff. Many fond ‘hellos’ occur on a daily basis,” she said.

In 2010 Maroondah BreastScreen became the first Victorian BreastScreen service to go digital securing its position as a service dedicated to technological advancements and innovation. It has also been the site for Tomosynthesis trials (a 3D screen of the breast) with the first being introduced in 2013 in the assessment setting (funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services). In a first for Tomosynthesis screening in a BreastScreen Australia setting, Maroondah also received a grant for 5,000 clients to have 3D-mammography screening in 2017/2018 (funded by the National Breast Cancer Foundation (Australia) Pilot Study Grant).

It will be no small task moving the BreastScreen clinic into new premises but the benefits to clients and staff alike will be vast. “We look forward to being able to provide our clients with the same care as we do now but within a more modern and beautiful space, [and] we hope our clients enjoy the experience of this purpose built facility.”

While some of the faces may have changed, our mission to provide a world-class screening service remains the same and we’ll continue to serve the women of Maroondah from our new location across the state.