THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 7, 1995 TAG: 9504070513
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
For Chesapeake residents, the opening of a new cancer center at Chesapeake General Hospital means that cancer patients finally can get radiation treatment close to home.
But it also illustrates a trend toward cost-saving cooperation among hospitals - DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk gave up a radiation machine so Chesapeake could have one.
The state limits the number of specialized, high-tech machines hospitals can install. The restrictions are designed to guarantee that each machine serve a high volume of patients, keeping costs down and ensuring that the staffs operating the equipment have a lot of experience.
So when Chesapeake officials decided to build the new cancer center, they knew it would be hard to get state approval to install radiation equipment.
At the same time, DePaul was planning to ask for permission to replace one of their two machines with a newer model.
``We faced the reality that there were too many (machines) in the area,'' said Donald S. Buckley, president of Chesapeake General.
Almost a third of cancer patients getting radiation at DePaul were coming from Chesapeake General's service area, said DePaul President Kevin P. Conlin.
Chesapeake paid the $2.8 million for the new machine and construction of the facility, which was dedicated Thursday night. The two hospitals will share profits and some of the staff needed to run the equipment. DePaul will keep its other machine.
The head of the local agency charged with enforcing state limits praised the cooperation between the two hospitals.
``We're just thrilled that it worked out so well,'' said Paul M. Boynton, executive director of the Eastern Virginia Health Systems Agency.
It's the first radiation therapy center in Chesapeake. Until now, city cancer patients have driven to Norfolk or elsewhere for that treatment. Those hospitalized at Chesapeake General had to make the trip in an ambulance.
``You take about 25 treatments in a row,'' said Boynton. ``That's an awful lot of driving. It's very traumatic.''
The radiation machine isn't the only recent example of hospitals banding together to share the cost of expensive new equipment.
Several local hospitals, including Chesapeake and DePaul, applied jointly for permission to operate a center for positron emission tomography, a sophisticated technique that creates pictures of the inside of the body.
They got state permission, but construction has been put on hold, partly because of costs and because Medicare won't reimburse for the procedure. by CNB