Columbus, Miss., Dec. 11, 2001 - The State of Mississippi recently approved Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle's certificate of need for a positron emission tomography scanner.

The PET scanner is an imaging tool used to evaluate cancer, coronary artery disease and diseases of the brain. The scanner will be shared by Baptist Golden Triangle, Baptist Memorial Hospital-DeSoto in Southaven, Miss., and Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford, Miss.

"PET imaging is part of the future of cancer, heart and neurological care," said Dean A. Griffin, CEO and administrator of Baptist Golden Triangle. "This is just one way Baptist provides advanced services and enhances its commitment to patient care."

Baptist Golden Triangle, located in Columbus, Miss., offers a wide variety of services, including a maternal/child nursing unit, an emergency room with 24-hour ambulance service and an extensive rehabilitation department. Baptist Golden Triangle established the first comprehensive cancer center in the region and was the first hospital in the country to use radioactive isotopes in a nuclear medicine camera to diagnose cancer and heart disease. The hospital employs more than 1,000 health care professionals and has 328 licensed beds.

For more information, call (662) 244-1000.

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