OGDENSBURG – Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation in nuclear medicine as the result of a recent review by the American College of Radiology (ACR).

Claxton-Hepburn's nuclear medicine department is the only nuclear medicine program north of Syracuse to hold this prestigious accreditation.

Claxton-Hepburn's nuclear medicine department now joins the hospitals already ACR accredited CT, mammography, ultrasound and MRI departments.

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive materials to diagnose a variety of disease, including many types of cancers, heart disease, among other abnormalities within the body.

The ACR gold seal of accreditation represents the highest level of image quality and patient safety.

It is awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice-Guidelines and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field.

Shown in the photo seated is Nancy Wills, nuclear medicine technologist and standing in back are Debbie King, radiology manager and Dr. Ali Gharagozloo, chief of radiology at Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center.