Providing High-Quality Breast Care Services For more than 15 years

 Janine Jones still remembers the unease her mom, Sheila Veloz, felt as she awaited her mammogram results. “Sometimes, it took up to two weeks to hear from the doctor, and during that time, she was filled with anxiety until she got that call,” Jones says. “Whether you have breast cancer or not, it doesn’t have to be this horrific, anxiety-ridden event.”
Veloz died of breast cancer in 2001 at the age of 59. Her diagnosis and treatment experiences, as well as those of local breast cancer patients, survivors and their families, served as the inspiration for Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital’s Sheila R. Veloz Breast Center, which opened its doors in December 2002.
After serving the community for more than 15 years, the center’s goals remain unchanged — to improve access to breast imaging services in the Santa Clarita Valley, reduce the anxiety associated with breast cancer screening and promote early detection in an environment of respect, reliability and sensitivity.
Since 2002, the center has performed 152,700 screening and diagnostic mammograms and 197,400 procedures, including biopsies and ultrasounds. More than 1,300 breast cancers have been detected, with about 800 of those from screening mammograms. It has also provided services to about 2,300 underinsured and uninsured patients through grants and community philanthropy.
“We’re still the only center in the valley dedicated to breast imaging, offering a level of service that’s unmatched,” according to Terry Bucknall, CRA, who has served as the center’s director of Women’s Imaging Services since it opened. “It has exceeded our expectations in the services we’re providing and the way the community has accepted us.”
The facility offers advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies to detect breast cancer, including 3D digital mammography, ultrasound-guided needle core breast biopsies, an automated ultrasound system that help doctors find cancers in dense breast tissue, and more. It is one of the first facilities in California to be designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology.
Jones, a North Valencia resident, says her mom would be thrilled with the center that bears her name. “Her whole spirit was about giving back, and she would be so honored to know it’s giving back to the community she loved.”
For more information, contact 661-200-1099, or visit www.sheilaveloz.com.