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State advises some Hoffman Estates clinic mammogram patients to seek second opinion

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency is urging those who've had a mammogram performed at a Hoffman Estates medical imaging clinic since Oct. 17, 2019, to seek a second opinion and consult their doctors, after a review found poor quality images taken during that period.

The message comes after the American College of Radiology found that the practices of Hoffman MRI Inc. — formerly Hope Imaging — posed a “serious risk to human health,” according to the IEMA.

“IEMA is issuing this public notice so that patients of this facility may take the appropriate actions to protect their health,” IEMA Director Alicia Tate-Nadeau said in a written statement.

Hoffman MRI Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Herald Wednesday.

In August 2020, the IEMA issued an emergency order to cease operations at the facility also known as Hoffman Imaging & Medical Center, 2500 W. Higgins Road, Suite 830.

The American College of Radiology conducted a review of clinical mammography images obtained from Oct. 17, 2019, through July 31, 2020, and found 16 of 30 cases did not meet ACR imaging criteria.

After the emergency order was issued in August, the ACR informed state authorities that the facility — under a new name and ownership — was continuing to perform mammography, according to the IEMA.

The state agency conducted two inspections of the facility during the pandemic, including one in February, in which IEMA was unable to validate ownership claims they were complying with the emergency order.

During a second inspection in March, the state confirmed that approximately 100 patients had been imaged since December 2020. A second emergency order was issued in April ordering Hoffman MRI Inc. to cease operations, pending resolution of both its accreditation and certification.

As of Wednesday, the facility remained prohibited from conducting mammography imaging until further notice.

IEMA also is requiring the facility to notify patients and their physicians if they were imaged between October 2019 and March 2021 due to the results of the review.

For patients of this facility, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency has created a list of frequently asked questions. Visit IEMA.Illinois.gov to learn more.

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