THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 7, 1995 TAG: 9504050199
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines
CHESAPEAKE GENERAL HOSPITAL can now consider itself a complete medical facility.
Its state-of-the-art Cancer Treatment Center is in place.
Dedication ceremonies marking the center's opening took place Thursday.
For years, the local hospital has provided cancer treatments in the form of surgery and chemotherapies. Now, with the new center, Chesapeake cancer patients can receive complete care right here at home.
``This is a major step in our providing complete and total health care to the citizens of Chesapeake, the people of northeastern North Carolina,'' said hospital president Donald S. Buckley. ``It has been our missing link. In the past, cancer patients at the hospital who needed radiation treatments had to travel to other cities to get complete cancer care. Now we can provide it.''
``This should about do it for the hospital itself,'' said J. Ridgely Porter III, chairman of the Chesapeake Hospital Authority. ``This puts Chesapeake General where it ought to be as a full-service health resource facility. This pretty much completes the main hospital.''
Porter said hospital officials now intend to expand the facility into Western Branch with a wellness, fitness and aquatic center featuring many health rehabilitation resources.
The cancer center will be directed by Dr. Mathew Sinesi, a board certified oncologist with Oncology Associates of Virginia.
``We've been able to do many different cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and surgical procedures, out of Chesapeake General for years,'' said Sinesi, who has been on the Chesapeake General Hospital staff for nine years. ``But, up until now, never radiation therapy. And usually about 60 percent of all cancer patients are candidates for this kind of therapy.''
According to hospital records, there were 395 cancer patients at the hospital in 1991 and 185 who required radiation treatments it could not provide.
Cancer patients at Chesapeake General who needed the all-important radiation therapy had to travel to other cities to receive the crucial treatments, Sinesi said. And that was not good for the patient.
``It can really take a toll on the patient to have to drive into Norfolk, for example, to receive radiation therapy,'' he explained. ``It's a hardship that only added to the patient's problems in terms of health and additional costs. The difference between a half-hour ambulance ride and a five-minute push down the hall is significant to the patient.''
Sinesi will work out of the new center with his two brothers, Mark and Christopher Sinesi, both board certified oncologists also with Oncology Associates of Virginia.
The Sinesi brothers also have run the cancer radiation treatment centers at DePaul Hospital in Norfolk and Obici Hospital in Suffolk.
``My brother Mark was doing his Ph.D. work in radiation biology,'' Sinesi said. ``He introduced us to the field while we were in medical school. We saw it as a fascinating field, a fairly new and cutting-edge science.''
In fact, when commenting on the new equipment the Chesapeake General Hospital Cancer Treatment Center will use for radiation treatments - a linear accelerator, simulator and treatment planning computer system - Sinesi spoke about them in glowing terms.
``This is all absolutely beyond state-of-the-art equipment,'' Sinesi said. ``It's fantastic equipment, extremely high-tech, like something out of `Star Wars.' ''
Sinesi said it took almost as long as it did to make all three ``Star Wars'' films to plan the new center.
``It's been in the planning stage for at least eight years,'' he explained.
Both he and Buckley said the Virginia State Board of Health carefully monitors and regulates the implementation and use of very high-tech medical equipment throughout the commonwealth.
``They keep very close tabs in allowing this equipment to be installed and used at various (Virginia) hospitals,'' Buckley added. ``They do this in order to reduce health care costs throughout the state by not having an excessive number of these units.''
Sinesi said the state regulatory board studies an area, its general population, its patient population and the number of high-tech equipment units already in place. If an area already has the maximum number of any types of machines, it could take years before another hospital receives permission to install a similar unit.
``With the way the numbers are now, it would have been near impossible for us to get this needed equipment,'' Buckley said.
That's when Norfolk-based DePaul Hospital came to the rescue.
``This service is provided to the citizens of Chesapeake via networking with DePaul Hospital,'' Porter said.
DePaul had two such linear accelerator units. Working closely with the Chesapeake hospital, it chose to shut one down, allowing Chesapeake General to install one without disturbing the balance, Sinesi said.
``That way, the number stays constant, and we're able to install one of our own,'' Sinesi explained. ``It worked because of the unique partnership we have with DePaul, and we're grateful to them.''
``It was wonderful the way we were able to do this in conjunction with DePaul,'' Buckley said. ``Thanks to Kevin Conlin (DePaul Medical Center's chief executive officer and president), DePaul's action allowed us to gain the needed equipment.''
Now it's more convenient and less expensive for Chesapeake cancer patients to receive necessary radiation treatment,'' Sinesi said.
``We can now do it quicker and bring it closer to our patients,'' Buckley added.
Teams of experts with Philips Medical Systems ``have camped out here'' to fine-tune the $1.56 million equipment. ``They've been working on it round-the-clock,'' he said. ``That's what it takes to get this equipment off and running.''
But the equipment isn't the only good thing about the center, Sinesi said.
``The center's design is important, too,'' he said. ``It's a very non-clinical building that's calming and soothing to the patient.''
The center's design includes warm colors, geometrical windows, skylights and comfortable furnishings.
Sinesi said his staff consists of hand-picked top-notch people who offer all manner of compassionate cancer treatment.
``They are the best in their field,'' he said. ``They are all very nice, caring people with a lot of expertise who will make a big difference to the patient's mental and physical well-being.''
``The staff will provide the most humane and caring treatment possible,'' Buckley said.
The center will begin treating patients in May and is expected to treat 270 during its first year.
``This is just another way we can solidify complete medical care for the people of Chesapeake,'' Sinesi said. ``There's a tight bond between the community and the hospital.'' ILLUSTRATION: FIGHTING CANCER
ON THE COVER
Groundbreaking: June 1, 1994
Contractor: Creative Structures of Virginia Beach
Architects: Greaves Finch & Associates, P.C., of Virginia Beach
Space: 6,200 square feet
Construction cost: $1.3 million
Equipment, manufacturer and cost: Linear accelerator, simulator
and treatment planning computer system, by Philips Medical Systems
for $1.56 million
Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY
Dr. Mathew P. Sinesi looks over the radiation treatment equipment.
Sinesi also is pictured on the cover.
Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY
Ruth Eeiver, operations manager for the Cancer Treatment Center,
with the linear accelerator.
A sign outside the treatment center indicates when radiation is in
use.
by CNB