Columbus Regional Health will be showing off its newly renovated and expanded Cancer Center at an open house today.
Kelsey DeClue, spokeswoman for the hospital, says the 6,600 square foot expansion to the center took almost two years to complete and $4.7 million dollars. It features many improvements that will benefit local cancer patients including new, state-of-the-art equipment called a linear accelerator, DeClue said.
“It is basically a radiation therapy machine,” DeClue said. “What we have got and the software associated with that really, really takes our radiation program to a completely different level. Treatments that people may have had to go out of the community before, on the radiation oncology side, will now be able to be done right here in their hometown. They won’t have to travel as far.”
DeClue said there are only three of these machines in the state and its capabilities are cutting edge.
“It is just mind-boggling what we are going to be able to do with this new radiation equipment,” DeClue said. “It is really humbling. And it is not just the technology, it is the providers, the physicians that go along with that. We have a couple of new radiation oncologists that we are introducing… that have the experience that is the best in the state, honestly.”
The expanded facility will also deliver a better patient experience and a better experience for their care-givers, DeClue said.
“The expansion provides more chemotherapy treatment bays, a brighter, more open feel to that area as well,” she said. “Which when we did customer service surveys was mentioned as something they wanted.
“We have an increased waiting area that is just off the existing waiting area. It is just another pocket, another waiting room with complimentary beverages and just a nice open space for those people. And then inside the chemotherapy and medical oncology side, the treatment bays, we have also added a few family and patient spaces there.”
Other improvements include an expanded pharmacy, DeClue said.
You will be able to tour the new space, meet the physicians and learn more about cancer care services from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. this afternoon. The center is part of the main hospital complex off of 17th Street.