Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 26, 1993 TAG: 9308260174
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
But many of those who addressed the Southwest Virginia Health Systems Agency representatives who will make a recommendation next Wednesday had the same message - the New River Valley needs its own center somewhere.
Doctors, cancer survivors and people who had lost family members to cancer spoke of patients having to drive for several hours for 20 or 30 treatments in Roanoke or Salem. Some told of patients who declined treatments and died before they otherwise would have because they could not take the repeated strains of the trips.
More than 40 people signed up to speak. More than 140 filled the seats in the Radford Circuit Court room and spilled over into the lobby.
Pulaski Community Hospital is seeking a state certificate for a 10,000-square-foot radiation treatment center attached to the hospital, costing more than $3.5 million.
Christopher Dux, chief executive officer, emphasized quick access to diversified physicians as well as the hospital's emergency room if needed.
Radford Community Hospital wants to build a 12,000-square-foot free-standing $3.3 million center about 3.5 miles from the hospital near an Interstate 81 exit.
Debbie McCraw, the hospital's strategic planning director, said the interstate access would shorten patient trips. She said Radford Community had more than 300 letters of support and 500 petition signatures.
Dux questioned whether those were valid, because the location on Radford's application had been changed in the past 48 hours. The previous site had been near the New River Valley Mall and Montgomery Regional Hospital.
McCraw said it had only recently been ascertained that utilities could be provided at the new site. Because it is more accessible, she said, "we anticipate that the response will be more enthusiastic, not less enthusiastic."
Pulaski had an estimated cost per visit of $305, while Radford estimated only $161 per visit.
State Health Commissioner Robert B. Stroube recently rejected an earlier application from Radford Community along with one from Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem for a second treatment unit. Radford has filed a new application in competition with the one from Pulaski Community.
But both sides disagreed with Stroube's earlier finding of insufficient demonstrated need for a center in the New River Valley.
by CNB