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Cancer Treatment - The Right Combination:
Commonwealth Atrius Cancer Center opens in Weymouth to offer many treatments under one roof
June 07, 2007 | The Patriot Ledger
WEYMOUTH - Many cancer patients on the South Shore who used to drive to a major Boston hospital for radiation treatments can shorten the trip now that a new cancer treatment center has opened in Weymouth.
The Commonwealth Atrius Cancer Center, which opened several weeks ago off Libbey Industrial Parkway, combines radiation treatments, chemotherapy and imaging services into one building for patients.
‘‘What’s new here that the South Shore never had before is the integration of radiation oncology and medical oncology all under one roof so patients don’t have to go to different offices to get their treatments,’’ said Dr. Claire Fung, director of radiation oncology at the center.
The center is named after the two doctors’ groups that will staff and run the center, Commonwealth Hematology- Oncology and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates’ nonprofit parent organization Atrius Health. A division of Anaheim, Calif.-based Alliance Imaging also provided development expertise, purchasing power and some staff support. Commonwealth, a Quincy-based for-profit network of cancer doctors, last month moved a group of its medical oncology doctors from a Pleasant Street office in Weymouth to the new location.
About 70 people, including physicians, will staff the center, which is the primary tenant in the 68,000-square-foot building that Braintree-based Campanelli Cos. recently finished at 51 Performance Drive.
Dr. Walt Kagan, chief executive of Commonwealth, said the cancer center currently occupies about 20,000 square feet, and will likely fill nearly 30,000 square feet by early next year. ‘‘It’s a wonderful, welcoming facility for people who are really scared and really dealing with tough issues,’’ Kagan said.
Kagan said the centerpiece of the new center is its linear accelerator, which is used to provide radiation treatments. The machine has a CT scanning capability that offers more precision than what could be provided by previous models.
‘‘It lets you deliver a very precise beam to the cancer (and) it spares (more of) the normal tissues around it,’’ Kagan said. Dr. Jeff Levin-Scherz, chief medical officer of Atrius and Harvard Vanguard in Newton, said many patients on the South Shore have been used to trekking to Boston for radiation therapya routine that can become tiresome for regular treatments. ‘‘People can (now) get all of their care on the South Shore and they can get it in a coordinated and collaborative way,’’ Levin-Scherz said.
Kagan said his physicians’ group is already looking to replicate the success of the Weymouth center elsewhere. He said work will begin in a few weeks on a Commonwealthaffiliated cancer center on the grounds of Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport. Kagan also said Commonwealth is exploring the possibility of a third cancer care center.
By JON CHESTO
The Patriot Ledger
Jon Chesto may be reached at jchesto@ledger.com.
Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Thursday, June 07, 2007