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Sacred Heart Hospital Dedicates New Cancer Center
January 28, 2010
Sacred Heart Health System dedicated a new Cancer Center Wednesday that combines some of the area’s leading cancer specialists as well as chemotherapy and radiation therapy in a facility designed for the comfort of patients.
The new $32 million center is part of Sacred Heart’s ongoing efforts to provide the most advanced cancer treatment to patients in Northwest Florida, according to hospital officials.
The new center, located adjacent to Sacred Heart Medical Park at Airport Boulevard and College Parkway in Pensacola, will open its doors to patients on Monday. Sacred Heart will hold an open house to allow the community to tour the new facility on February 20.
“Our vision is to be the region’s premier cancer center. The facility will combine excellent diagnostic and treatment technology, great doctors and staff, a healing environment, and individualized patient care supported by the latest knowledge and research,” said Laura Kaiser, president and CEO of Sacred Heart Health System. “The Cancer Center is evidence of our commitment to raise the standard of cancer care and help our patients and their loved ones overcome this disease.”
The new facility will consolidate and expand Sacred Heart’s cancer services. It will include:
Offices of the specialists with Sacred Heart Medical Oncology Group.
A spacious unit dedicated to outpatient chemotherapy that provides private rooms and comfortable semi-private areas for treatment of up to 35 patients.
A radiation oncology unit that offers advanced, highly precise technology for radiation therapy called the Trilogy Stereotactic System.
Other services such as lab and pharmacy services, patient education and support services, and cancer research staff that enrolls patients in research studies of the latest cancer treatments.
One of the most beneficial aspects of centralizing outpatient cancer services is the expedited coordination of services. Dr. Thomas Sunnenberg of Sacred Heart Medical Oncology Group said cancer care tends to be fragmented, which in turn causes delays in diagnosis and treatment, but the new center will bring physicians and staff together for multi-disciplinary planning of patient care.
By March, additional cancer specialists will be located in the center, including Drs. Gerald Lowrey and Rod Krentel, both board-certified radiation oncologists.
Dr. Sunnenberg said that putting a team of physicians in the same room, looking at the same images and test results, and planning together has been proven to make a difference in patient outcomes. “Everybody who is in this group – the radiation oncologists and the medical oncologists – participate in multi-disciplinary planning at least two times a week. It makes us better at what we do.”
The new center also will house social workers, Cancer Registry staff, a prayer and meditation area, conference space, a patient resource library and education classrooms.
“Our new Cancer Center will really bring a significant level of care to our community’s cancer patients,” says Terri Smith, vice president of Cancer Services. “When patients experience a center that houses all of the services they need and is dedicated solely to helping them fight cancer, it provides them with a greater sense of hope. Support is really an important key to battling cancer.”
Sacred Heart is affiliated with M. D. Anderson Physicians Network. As a result of this affiliation, Sacred Heart cancer patients gain access to the latest clinical care guidelines and quality initiatives developed by teams of specialists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, the nation’s leader in cancer care. The guidelines are founded upon research to determine the best known outcomes for patients receiving cancer treatment.
Experts at M. D. Anderson regularly communicate with Sacred Heart physicians via teleconferences where they discuss the cases of individual patients and share knowledge based on research. Physicians Network also provides Sacred Heart with ongoing rigorous review of its standards and practices.
For more information, call (850) 416-2770 or visit www.sacred-heart.org.
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