Rachel Mannausau poses with the new digital mammography machine at the Essentia Health-International Falls clinic.
Thanks to a new addition, patients at the Essentia Health-International Falls clinic now have access to advanced digital mammography.
Digital mammograms are ideal for patients with dense fibrocystic breast tissue, which appears white on film, the same color as tumors. With digital mammography, the radiologist can change the contrast of the image, allowing for any masses to be spotted easier. There’s also a lower dose of radiation exposure.
“Getting a mammogram is one of the best ways we know to detect breast cancer in its early stages,” Dr. Samantha Crossley, a family medicine physician at the clinic, said in a release. “And a digital mammogram offers many benefits to the patient.”
The mammography process takes about 20 minutes from the time people walk into the office, to the time they leave. After images are taken, they are transferred via computer to Duluth, where a team of highly-specialized radiologists at the Essentia Health Breast Health Center view them for any abnormalities.
“The expertise you’ll find here at the Breast Health Center is something that definitely benefits our patients,” Dr. Tammy Fox, the Breast Health Center’s medical director, said in a release. “We review more than 26,000 mammograms every year. It’s what we do 24/7 and that makes a real difference in the accuracy of a reading.”
Essentia Health-International Falls Clinic patients also benefit from a friendly, well-known face that will be with them through the entire process. Radiology technician Rachel Mannausau lives and works in International Falls, her hometown.
“One of the best things about my job is helping people right here in my community,” Mannausau said in a release. “These are my friends and neighbors, and I want them to get the best care possible, care that is private and comfortable.”
Patients who have “MyHealth,” an online patient portal, can view their results as soon as they are available, rather than wait for a letter to come in the mail. “MyHealth” will also electronically remind patients when mammograms, or any other tests and exams, are due.
“What’s ideal about our clinic is that we can offer our community world-class care right here in their backyard, and that’s something I’m very proud to be a part of,” Mannausau said.
Gas stations under new management
Two local gas stations are under new ownership after recently being sold.
Two Freedom Valu Center gas stations, located at 301 Fourth St. and 1709 Third Ave., have been sold by parent company Erickson Oil Products, Inc., located in Hudson, Wis.
More information on the purchase and sale was not available as of press time. Messages for Gary Vandervorst, Erickson Oil Products president, were not returned.
Employer event
A Thursday Employer of the Day event at the International Falls WorkForce Center will allow interested people to speak with recruiters about filling local openings.
The event is hosted by UnitedHealth Group, and UHG recruitment specialists will be available to help applicants fill out the online application for claims clerk positions.
The event is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19 at the International Falls WorkForce Center. The center is located on the Rainy River Community College campus, in room SC128.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The end of Target’s Canadian operations is having a financial impact on businesses in Minnesota that supplied the retailer.
Target’s Canadian division filed for bankruptcy protection last month and owes nearly $5 million to Minnesota suppliers and service providers, including Retail Merchandising Services. The Maple Grove company, which has stocked and maintained jewelry and sunglass displays at Target stores for decades, followed the retailer north of the border in 2011.
“We hired and trained 200 employees across Canada,” said Phil Lamers, president of Retail Merchandising Services. “The hiring, the background checks, to do all that it was hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Retail Merchandising Services will continue to work with the retail giant in the U.S. Target owes the company $211,000, according to court documents, but Lamers said the amount is $340,000.
If Target does not pay, it won’t sink the firm, but it will hurt.
“We won’t have a profit-sharing contribution for 2014. And I’ve had to borrow more money,” Lamers said. “We have a line of credit and we’ve got to use that to a greater degree than I would like. It’s unfortunate. It’s also part of life, part of business.”
Lamers said he hopes to recover at least part of what he’s owed in the bankruptcy process.
Target Canada says it’s committed to a fair and orderly process as it winds down operations, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
Toronto lawyer Lou Brzezinski, who represents some of the creditors, said how much investors recoup in the end will depend on the sale of Target Canada’s store leases.
“If they sell all of them, the landlords’ claims will be next to nothing,” Brzezinski said. “If they sell half of them, there’ll be substantial landlord claims, which will dilute the amount available to creditors.”
ST. PAUL (AP) — The bill to restrict the venues for Minnesota lottery ticket sales is headed to the House floor for a vote.
A final committee endorsed the proposal Monday amid calls by some lawmakers to seek a compromise with Gov. Mark Dayton rather than provoke a veto. Dayton has voiced opposition to the bill, but also a willingness to negotiate over it.
The bill would suspend online sales of instant-win tickets and bar the lottery from selling tickets through gas pumps and ATMs. The lottery is doing all three now, but lawmakers question the lottery’s authority to do so.
Lottery officials warn the bill would expose the state to lawsuits from vendors and harm ticket sales going forward. Lottery proceeds are split between the general treasury and environmental programs.
ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. power companies struggling with the escalating costs of building nuclear plants are closely watching similar efforts in China, where officials are expecting delays.
Two plants under construction in Sanmen and Haiyang, China, are the first-ever built using Westinghouse Electric Co.’s AP1000 reactor design. Utility companies in Georgia and South Carolina are building two similar plants in the United States using a very similar design. Since the project in China is father along, U.S. executives and safety regulators watch it closely.
Officials at China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. blame the delays on the late delivery of equipment from the United States. Westinghouse Electric Co. and project manufacturers are working to redesign a coolant pump for the plant.
Chinese officials are building a fleet of nuclear plants as they aim to produce a fifth of their country’s electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.
“Because it is the first of this kind in the world, it is normal to have some delay,” said Guo Hongbo, director of the firm’s general office. He was vague on how long the delays may last. “It is not a problem whether the delay is one year or two years. The technological breakthrough will be utterly valuable to the development of ... world nuclear power.”
Westinghouse Electric Co. President Danny Roderick said the issues with the coolant pumps will be resolved before there’s any impact in the United States.
“You won’t see those delays at all,” he said.
Power plant owners and regulators in the United States have their own teams in China to monitor building efforts there. Chinese safety regulators have joined inspectors from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission when they review nuclear industry vendors, including the manufacturer of the reactor coolant pumps.
“That’s one of the benefits of not being one of the first-of-the-kind here,” Southern Co. CEO Thomas Fanning said in an interview. “We’re picking up the benefits.”
Meeting deadlines is critical for projects in both countries. When nuclear plant construction slows down, building and financing costs can soar. That problem hobbled the nuclear industry during earlier rounds of building. Proponents had hoped the new projects in China and the United States would demonstrate nuclear plants can be constructed without blowing budgets.
If nuclear plants go massively over budget, the nuclear industry will find it nearly impossible in the short run to compete against much-cheaper gas-fired plants. U.S. utility executives who are building nuclear plants say the facilities reliably produce energy without emitting greenhouse gasses and run relatively cheaply once they are built.
The projects in the United States are already under cost pressure. Westinghouse Electric Co. and Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. expect construction of two new AP1000 reactors at Plant Vogtle in eastern Georgia will go three years beyond the approved schedule, according to financial filings.
Southern Co., which owns a 46 percent stake in the plant, and the plant’s other owners have not accepted that timeline.
Regulators in Georgia estimate the latest delays could push Southern Co.’s share of spending on the plant from $6.1 billion to more than $8 billion.
A sister plant owned by SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper in South Carolina has run into similar delays and cost overruns.
