The P.E.I. government is hoping more women will make breast screening appointments now that wait times have been slashed.
Waits for regular screening mammograms have been as high as 14 months in recent years, but the province has been making investments to bring those wait times down.
There are now digital mammography machines at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown and Prince County Hospital in Summerside. More staff have been added and appointments are now available in the evenings.
As of Tuesday, women have a six-week wait to book their screening mammogram.
Jamie MacDonald, director of diagnostic imaging for Health PEI, said the long waits hurt recruitment efforts for screening. Rates fell from 40 per cent to 25 per cent.
"It takes a great deal of energy on the lady's part to call in and book that first screening mammogram," said MacDonald.
"When you get the nerve up to do that, you want to get in right away before you talk yourself out of it. And when you call in and you're told you have a year's wait, well that's certainly a deterrent for most people."
MacDonald said they're hoping to increase their recruitment rate to 70 per cent.
Last year the province screened close to 7,500 women. It expects to screen more than 13,000 by the end of this year.
-- CBC News