Mercy Medical Center Announces New Director of Imaging Teresa Adams

Teresa Adams will start as the director of Imaging Services at Mercy Medical Center on Monday, January 18. Adams was the assistant director for eight years at Mercy prior to accepting the promotion and has 15 years of prior experience as the director of another imaging department in the Pacific Northwest. “My time as the assistant director gives me an advantage in that I know how our department operates and also what plans we have to grow our services, to continue to give our patients better access,” Adams said. “We’re also working with our referring providers to ensure we provide them with what they need.” Adams is stepping into the position as Ed Cox is retiring after 34 years as the director of the Imaging Services at Mercy. “There are a lot of staff who have been here as long as Ed has, which speaks to his success as a leader and I enjoyed working with him as my boss.” Adams said. Mercy Imaging provides a variety of exams such as MRI, CT or cat scan, ultrasound, radiology, nuclear medicine, mammography, bone density exams and PET CT. The American College of Radiology is the organization that inspects and provides accreditation to Mercy by making sure that their imaging equipment and staff meet the highest quality. “We are heavily regulated with our equipment, personnel and quality control on equipment,” Adams said. “The America College of Radiology is the gold standard for medical imaging. Pursuing accreditation is a lot of money, paperwork and time for our team and for Mercy, but it’s important for our community to understand we are doing of it for their safety.” Adams said the most important thing about imaging today is explaining the actual exam to our patients and the role it has in helping provide a diagnosis. “We focus on really ensuring that patients understand what the exam will entail,” Adams said. “Patients get a lot of information from their doctor, and we also want to make sure we take the time to explain the why behind our exams, so that they feel comfortable during an uncertain time getting tests or exams. Understanding what’s going to happen to them is what is important for our patients.” “The imaging department, the technologists, the radiologists, take what they do very seriously. We’re here for our community, we strive to treat each patient with respect and dignity. Anyone who needs imaging can feel confident that we will provide care in a safe and timely manner.” To meet the community’s needs, Mercy provides imaging services at several locations locally besides the hospital and their Mercy Outpatient Imaging clinic off Harvard Avenue. “We’re a very busy department, so along with the hospital and Harvard locations, we have a satellite department at Evergreen Family Medicine and also offer X-ray services at South River community health center,” Adams said. “We are out in the community providing access.”