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Donation, grand opening for breast care center held at hospital

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FARMINGTON – Members of the Franklin Community Health Network’s administration and staff were on hand to officially open the new Martha B. Webber Breast Care Center this evening, thanking members of the community for their donations and accepting another one.

“The giving nature of this community is what makes it such a special place to be,” FCHN President Richard Batt said.

The Webber Center’s new home is in the new Franklin Health Medical Arts Center building, having been moved out of the main hospital building. The new center features more advanced detection techniques and more space. The center was built in part through the generosity of Martha and Peter Webber. Their daughter, Kate Webber Punderson was on hand for the opening.

Clem and Rolande Begin took the opportunity to announce that they were giving $50,000 to assist FCHN’s Evergreen Child Development program.

She noted that breast cancer had touched her family’s life more than once, and read a letter from her father.

“Martha’s request,” the letter read, “was that breast cancer early detection and care would be available to the people of rural Maine.”

Punderson herself said she had used the center’s services recently, finding the staff caring and helpful.

“I am so grateful,” she told the audience, “for everyone who made this possible.”

The original center was completed in 2004. This newest incarnation of the center, which has been in operation for a couple of months, features a digital mammogram system, allowing for more reliable early detection techniques for younger women.

“The data shows they work,” Eric Gunther, M.D. said, “and in the future I think the data will show they work even better than we thought. That’s why we’re so excited about this center.”

However, Gunther noted, the high-tech machines would be useless without the work of the skilled staff. Despite the new equipment and fancy offices, Gunther said he expected the center to continue focusing on “excellent, front-line care.”

Batt was also on hand to accept a new donation from a family which had already assisted FCHN, through the Webber Center’s endowment fund. Clem and Rolande Begin took the opportunity to announce that they were giving $50,000 to assist FCHN’s Evergreen Child Development program. That center, run by Dr. Iris Silverstein, M.D., F.A.A.P., opened earlier this year and treats a wide variety of childhood conditions such as autism, ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome.

“There are two things you can do with your money,” Clem Begin told the audience, “give it to Uncle Sam or give it to help children at the hospital.”

FCHN runs endowment funds for centers such as the Webber Center, which uses the interest earned on donations to pay for care not covered by the patient.

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