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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 1, 1993                   TAG: 9309010135
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: ROANOKE                                LENGTH: Short

CANCER-CENTER REVIEW DELAYED UNTIL OCT. 6

Two New River Valley hospitals have asked the Southwest Virginia Health Systems Agency to put a review of their separate applications for cancer treatment centers on hold.

The health systems agency planned to review the applications by Radford Community Hospital and Pulaski Community Hospital at a meeting tonight in Roanoke.

The agency's board makes recommendations to the state health commissioner on health-care-related projects in Southwest Virginia. After further review by state Health Department staff, the commissioner makes a final decision on whether to issue a certificate of need for health-care projects.

Ken Cook, the regional agency's executive director, said that the Radford and Pulaski hospitals have asked for a month's delay in the agency's review of their proposed projects. The agency now will consider the projects Oct. 6 at a meeting in the Roanoke Airport Holiday Inn, Cook said.

A public hearing by the agency last week on the two competing projects drew a roomful of supporters who talked of the need for a cancer-treatment center that would provide radiation therapy in the New River Valley.

Pulaski Community has proposed a $3.9 million center connected to its hospital. Radford Community has proposed a $3.3 million center to be located near Interstate 81 and Virginia 177 near Radford.

Radford amended its original application, which had asked for permission to build a free-standing center near the Market Square Shopping Center in Christiansburg.

Radford also is proposing that the radiation machine it will use will have the same dual-energy capacity as the machine proposed by Pulaski Community.

by CNB