Medical facility recommends regular screening at Brookfield office

By Scott Benjamin

BROOKFIELD – Madhavi Raghu laments that the pandemic disrupted cancer screening.

“These kinds of services were shut down,” said Raghu, who is the director of breast imaging at the newest tenant in Brookfield Town Center, the central business district near the Four Corners intersection on Federal Road.

She also oversees services at the two Danbury offices and the Southbury office of Connecticut Breast Imaging.

Raghu remarked, “Some patients haven’t been in for two years, maybe four years.”

“They should come in every year starting at [age] 40,” she said as she sat in Connecticut Breast Imaging’s 6,000-square-foot office that opened this spring at 730 Federal Road, near the intersection with Laurel Hill Road. Brookfield First Selectwoman Tara Carr and Economic Development Chairman Jim Fisher attended the recent ribbon-cutting.

Commented Raghu, “We want to find these cancers when they’re at stage zero and at stage one.”

Connecticut Breast Imaging noted on its web site that one out of every eight women will encounter breast cancer during their lifetime.

“While exercise, diet, limited alcohol consumption and maintaining a healthy body weight also reduce your risk of breast cancer, there are many factors, including heredity and environmental, that can result in breast cancer,” Connecticut Breast Imaging stated. “No matter what your level of health, regular mammograms are still critical for early diagnosis.”

The office performs diagnostic mammography 3D mammography, breast ultrasound, breast biopsy, bone density testing and cancer risk assessment.

Raghu, who lives in Cheshire, said a mammogram can be performed in 20 minutes with the results usually available within 24 hours. She said that only “a small percentage of patients need to return for additional imaging.”

“There is a significant need for a high quality, spa-like atmosphere for patients to come in for their breast imaging,” she said in an interview with Patch.com.

Shawn Barto, the manager at the Brookfield office, said in an interview with Patch.com that insurance covers many of the services and Connecticut Breast Imaging will “work with” patients to establishment payment plans when needed.

But why Brookfield when Connecticut Breast Imaging already has three offices in metro Danbury?

“Brookfield is very accessible and centrally-located in western Connecticut,” remarked Raghu.

Community Development Specialist Greg Dembowksi said in a phone interview with Patch.com that Connecticut Breast Imaging has added to the diverse mix of businesses in Brookfield Town Center, which reportedly has had $35 million in construction over the last seven years.

Through the years the 198-acre Brookfield Town Center has attracted other health-related offices, including Urgent Care and the other tenants in the Brookfield Medical Center, across the street from Connecticut Breast Imaging. Primary Care -Brookfield occupies part of the 39-acre cornfield near the intersection of Federal and Junction roads and last August the Four Corners Dental Studio opened at Brookfield Village.

Barto said that Connecticut Breast Imaging’s Brookfield office has about 30 employees.

Dembowski commented, “Medical service providers continue to expand. It means jobs of various skill levels for residents of Brookfield and residents in nearby towns.”

Connecticut Breast Imaging in Brookfield is open Monday and Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and once a month on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Resources:

Interview with Madhavi Raghu and Shawn Barto, Patch.com, Friday, June 9, 2023.

Phone interview with Greg Dembowski, Patch.com, Wednesday, June 21, 2023.

Connecticut Breast Imaging web site.