PET/CT service acquired


Baptist Hospital East has acquired a PET/CT service from BodyScan of Louisville, LLC and renamed it Baptist BodyScan.

The transaction was effective Dec. 31, 2006. The purchase price was not disclosed for the center, located at 7807 Shelbyville Road. The service is managed by a joint venture owned by Baptist East and local physicians with expertise in PET/CT imaging services.

“Baptist East can now provide PET/CT services to the community at a very convenient off-site location,” said Vice President Tom McGee.

PET is positron emission tomography. With PET/CT, physicians get a more complete picture of what’s occurring in the body – both anatomically (through CT) and metabolically (through PET) in one continuous full-body scan lasting about 30 minutes.

PET is often used in the early diagnosis of cancer, since it can distinguish between benign and cancerous (malignant) tissue. PET scanning can be used to better understand how widespread a disease is within a patient or assess whether treatment has been effective.

Baptist Hospital East, a 407-bed hospital which opened in 1975, is a member of the Baptist Healthcare System which also owns and operates Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington, Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah, Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin and Baptist Hospital Northeast in La Grange. The system manages Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown.