PET/CT Scanning Center Receives Prestigious ACR Accreditation March 3, 2008 HICKORY--Catawba Valley Medical Center and Frye Regional Medical Center were recently notified that their collaborative service, the PET/CT Scanning Center, received a three-year term of accreditation by the American College of Radiology (ACR). The Scanning Center, which opened in 2004, was the region’s first combined Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT) scanner and one of only seven centers in North Carolina to receive a three-year term of accreditation in PET. The accreditation was granted following a recent site survey at the PET/CT Scanning Center. The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Va., awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of the practice. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. They assess the qualifications of the personnel and the adequacy of facility equipment. The surveyors report their findings to the ACR’s Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report. “Receiving ACR accreditation means that we’re going the extra mile to ensure we’re meeting the highest quality standards in the state,” said PET/CT Scanning Center Director of Operations Joe Philyaw, Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist, Registered Technologist in Nuclear Medicine and Registered Positron Emission Technologist. “It shows our dedication to providing quality care to our community and the broader area we serve.” The ACR is a national organization serving more than 32,000 diagnostic-interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, and nuclear medicine and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services. Located just off Tate Blvd. at Unifour Medical Commons, 235 18th Street SE in Hickory, the PET/CT Scanning Center is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. with scans performed from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. A physician referral is required for an appointment. For more information, contact the PET/CT Scanning Center at (828) 485-2718.