BOARD ENDORSES PROPOSED CANCER-TREATMENT CENTER

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 13, 1993                   TAG: 9304130289
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
BOARD ENDORSES PROPOSED CANCER-TREATMENT CENTER
Radford Community Hospital's plans to build a cancer-treatment center in Christiansburg were endorsed by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Monday night.
The supervisors passed a resolution supporting the center by a 5-2 vote despite opposition from the administrator of Montgomery Regional Hospital.
The proposed center would be equipped with a linear accelerator for radiation therapy, a treatment that is not now provided for cancer patients by either the Radford or Montgomery County hospitals.
Radford Community hopes to have by the end of May a certificate of need from the state commissioner of health to build the $3.18 million center. The Southwest Virginia Health Systems Agency, which reviews health-related projects, decided in March to recommend to the commissioner that the certificate be approved.
The center would be located in a newly constructed building on Arbor Drive behind the Ponderosa Restaurant near the Market Place shopping center in Christiansburg.
It would employ the equivalent of eight full- and part-time employees and would serve 250 patients yearly by 1995 and an eventual maximum of 320, according to Deborah McCraw, director of strategic planning for the Radford Hospital, an affiliate of the Roanoke-based Carilion Health System.
Radford Community said it would work with Carilion's Cancer Center of Southwest Virginia in Roanoke to develop the services for the center, including nutritional counseling, patient and family education, and psychiatric services.
The alternative to building the center is for patients to continue traveling to Roanoke or Salem for treatment, McCraw told the supervisors.
Gene Wright, administrator of Montgomery Regional Hospital, asked the supervisors to deny the Radford proposal support, saying it would duplicate services, provide lower quality care and drive up the cost of health care to New River Valley patients.
But McCraw said Radford's proposed center would provide the treatment for $150 per visit, which included a profit of 8 percent. Population information shows the valley can support the center, she said.
By contrast, she said, a proposal by Lewis-Gale Hospital of Salem to add an additional radiation-treatment machine, which was turned down by the Southwest Virginia Health Systems Agency, was based on a charge of $328 per visit and a pre-tax profit of 21.5 percent.
The proposed center would also provide chemotherapy and other cancer-treatment services similar to those now provided at both Radford and Montgomery Regional.
The closest radiation therapy is now available in Roanoke and Salem, which Wright said is within the 45-mile state guideline for the availability of such services.
Wright said 20 doctors spoke against the Radford proposal at a public hearing on the issue before the health systems agency.
Archie Cromer, a member of the Radford hospital board, said the plan has been supported by four other regional hospitals, the health department, other health agencies, New River Valley residents and patients.
The center would reduce the driving time for patients from the New River Valley and provide a service that is not currently available, Cromer said. A typical series of treatments can involve 25 trips for therapy.
The regional health systems agency endorsed the center on the grounds it would improve access to treatment for residents of the New River Valley.
Supervisor Jim Moore tried to get the board to table the resolution of support until the board could get more information on what Montgomery Regional's plans are.
Just because the supervisors endorse the Radford proposal doesn't mean they won't support a similar proposal by Montgomery Regional if it decides at a later date to offer radiation therapy, Supervisor Henry Jablonski said.
The proposed center, Jablonski said, would bring jobs and technology to the county and be cost-effective.
In order to meet an April 7 deadline, a letter expressing the supervisors' support had already been sent to the health commissioner. Monday's action made that letter official.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB