Cancer center to get $3 million expansion
Cancer patients won’t have to travel to Pittsburgh or Morgantown, W.Va., to undergo world-class radiation oncology treatment next year when a $3 million expansion project is completed at the existing Fayette Regional Cancer Center in Uniontown. Paul Bacharach, president and CEO of the Uniontown Hospital, confirmed Thursday that the project will include upgrades and renovations to the existing cancer facility, located at 410 McClellandtown Road.
“Many cancer patients are required to go back for repeated treatments,” he said. “It’s a real burden on those patients to travel an hour or two for one treatment at a Pittsburgh facility. This expansion will eliminate the need for those patients to travel.”
The Uniontown Hospital has entered into a joint venture with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) for the renovation of the facility, which opened its doors in 1988.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to bring the highest level of cancer care available anywhere in the country to Uniontown,” said Charles E. Bogosta, vice president for cancer services at UPMC. “Uniontown will have the same oncology services as other world-class cancer facilities, such as the Mayo Clinic.”
Bogosta said officials from UPMC worked closely with Uniontown Hospital officials to make the project a reality.
“We don’t go into communities that don’t have hospitals that we can work with on these projects,” Bogosta said. “We’re extremely excited for this opportunity to work with the Uniontown Hospital, its staff and administration. They have been very cooperative.”
In recognition of a $1.65 million contribution from local philanthropist Robert Eberly to support the center’s renovation and expansion, the facility will be renamed the Robert E. Eberly Pavilion.
When contacted for comment on his contribution, Eberly issued a brief statement: “We have every reason to be very proud of our local facility, and these improvements make our hospital very unique.”
Bacharach said renovation of the existing facility and construction of approximately 2,000 additional square feet of clinical space will begin in early 2004.
The renovated 8,000-square-foot facility is scheduled for completion in late summer or early fall 2004, but Bacharach said the time frame depends on weather conditions.
The renovated cancer center will offer high-tech capabilities, including new radiation therapy and availability of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning services.
Bacharach explained that the center’s significant advancements in technology will benefit hundreds of patients living in Fayette, Greene and southern Westmoreland counties who are required to undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
“This improvement significantly enhances the range and sophistication of cancer care services provided to the community, including improved diagnostic capabilities, surgical interventions, chemotherapy and state-of-the-art radiation therapy,” he said.
However, Bacharach said he does not expect the renovated facility to attract very many new cancer patients.
“We don’t expect a tremendous increase in the number of patients who will receive treatment at the facility,” he said. “The biggest benefit to the patients will be the fact that they won’t have to travel out of the area for treatment, because the renovated center will offer a newer approach to radiation treatment.”
The center’s renovation will not require additional hiring of physicians, nurses and staff members to operate it, according to Bacharach.
“Staffing should remain relatively stable after the renovation,” he said. “There may be some additional staff members hired, but we don’t foresee a significant change. We will be required to train the current employees to use the upgraded equipment and technology.”
The center will remain open to patients during the construction phase, Bacharach said, explaining that the existing radiation equipment will be available for use while the newer equipment is installed.
“We worked out the details to make sure that the center would remain open,” he said. “We didn’t want to inconvenience our patients by closing the center for four to six months during the construction phase.”
The Robert E. Eberly Pavilion will be recognized as the newest member of the UPMC Cancer Centers in a network of more than 40 centers that serve an estimated 25,000 cancer patients each year in the tri-state region.
“This center will serve as a unique model for the community-based delivery of cancer care by improving access to high-quality radiation therapy for patients throughout the region,” said Jeff Shogan, M.D., deputy director for clinical business affairs with UPCI. “It will allow community-based physicians to collaborate with hundreds of health-care professionals across the network.”
The facility will provide area patients with an advanced form of radiation therapy called intensity modulated radiation therapy, or IMRT.
Gary Macioce, vice president/operations at the Uniontown Hospital, explained that IMRT precisely targets radiation to the shape and thickness of a tumor to treat cancer cells, while minimizing the amount of radiation received by healthy tissues that surround the tumor.
“A big part of what’s happening here is we’re replacing the primary piece of equipment with new equipment that performs IMRT,” Macioce said. “This is state-of-the-art equipment, and it’s not available anywhere else in Fayette County at this time. But it is available in the larger hospitals in the Pittsburgh area.”
With the updated IMRT equipment, Bacharach said, Uniontown Hospital and the Robert E. Eberly Pavilion will offer local cancer patients the latest surgical, chemotherapy and radiation treatments available.
In addition to improving cancer treatment, the expansion will be a tremendous benefit to the area for Uniontown Hospital and its patients to have access to the teaching and research capabilities of UPMC, Bacharch said
“When you have a world-recognized teaching facility in the region, you have to use the services that it has to offer,” he said. “We don’t want to deny our patients the benefits or capabilities that a teaching facility of that caliber has to offer.”
Bacharach said the project has been in the planning stages for about 18 months to two years.
“As we started to work through the development of the project, it became clear that we would have substantial capital requirements,” he said. “It’s very expensive. When Robert Eberly found out about the center’s proposed renovation, he came to us and said he wanted to make the project happen.”
Bacharach commended Eberly for his continued financial support of the hospital, which includes about $4.5 million in recent commitments for various projects: the purchase of a CT scanner and fixed and open MRI units, as well as the recent allocation of funding for the cancer center’s expansion project.
“Robert Eberly has provided phenomenal support for the advancement of health care in Fayette County,” he said. “It’s a tribute to someone who is committed to making this area a better place to live.”