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Newburyport Medical Center ready for debut Cancer treatment program will anchor 40,000-square-foot facility
November 15, 2009 | The Daily News
NEWBURYPORT — The Newburyport Medical Center is officially ready for its ribbon cutting.
Located next to Anna Jaques Hospital, the newly built, 40,000-square-foot facility is now home to seven different medical practices, as well as the first comprehensive, standalone cancer treatment facility in the area.
To introduce locals to the center and its services, a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., followed by a series of seminars on Wednesday.
The Commonwealth Newburyport Cancer Center is the anchor tenant of the medical center.
Grenville Jones, director of radiation oncology at the Newburyport Cancer Center, anticipates the facility will treat 25 to 30 patients per day.
The cancer center has been open since January. Part of Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology, the largest private practice cancer treatment program in New England, the group is the first to offer radiation therapy in the Newburyport area. That can make all the difference to those dealing with cancer and their families, according to Jones.
"For most radiation patients, it's an issue of logistics and travel," Jones said. "There's 35 treatments spread over two months for radiation — it can become quite cumbersome and burdensome, particularly if they are sick."
Jones said the center features a new state-of-the-art CAT scanner called the CT scanner, or simulator, which localizes and identifies where tumors are. The treatment unit is a brand new linear accelerator, which delivers high dose radiation in very precise and conformal treatments, according to Jones.
"The building includes all the comforts of a brand-new center," Jones said, "as well as state-of-the-art technology including a machine that can pinpoint tumors."
It will also provide Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, which enables physicians to deliver higher doses of radiation to selected areas of a tumor with greater precision. In addition, Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology and Anna Jaques will provide chemotherapy treatment, along with the latest "targeted" anti-cancer medications. Advanced diagnostic imaging capabilities using the hospital's state-of-the-art PET/CT technologies will also be offered for the most accurate cancer detection and diagnosis.
A University of Virginia at Charlottesville and Johns Hopkins graduate, Jones brings 10 years of experience, most recently at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, where he specifically worked with prostate cancer patients. He plans to bring brachytherapy treatment, a method that implants radioactive seeds into patients' prostates, to the center soon.
An attending physician in radiation oncology has been investigating radiation therapy protocol to bring to the new center as well.
"This provides me a new opportunity to work at a brand-new facility," Jones, 44, said, "and the opportunity to be right at the beginning of developing a comprehensive cancer center in this area."
The cancer services at the center also features the Anna Jaques Hospital-licensed chemotherapy infusion suite on the second floor, which continues the radiation oncology the hospital has been offering for years.
"The infusion suite is headed by Dr. Paul Spieler, a longtime medical oncologist who is beloved by his patients, and has practiced here for many, many years," said Deborah Chiaravalloti, Anna Jaques Hospital's vice president of public relations and marketing.
The new center is home to seven medical practices — Urology Consultants of the North Shore, Northeast Dermatology, Colden Ear, Nose, Throat and Allergy, Sports Medicine North, North Shore Internal Medicine, as well as Lab services for Anna Jaques and a new location for the AJH physical therapy department.
"The new center provides the community with easily accessible practices adjacent to the hospital for patients receiving care," Chiaravalloti said.
Thecenter at One Wallace Bashaw Jr. Way was built by the Needham firm Murphy and McManus on land formerly owned by the family of City Councilor Tom Jones, who remained part of the management team of the development. A 1,500-square-foot suite is still available for rental on the second floor.
"Especially in this economic environment, it's a huge asset to the community and expands the level of health care provided to the community, especially with the comprehensive cancer center," Chiaravalloti said.
SIDEBAR
Sean Swarner — a two-time cancer survivor, author and the first cancer survivor to climb Mt. Everest and the world's highest peaks — will present his inspirational story at Newburyport High School Wednesday.
Swarner became the first survivor to climb Everest, and then went on to complete the "7 Summits" of the world, climbing the highest peaks on each continent. He accomplished all of this after two life-threatening bouts with cancer — Hodgkin's disease and Askin's sarcoma — after being told he had just two weeks to live, spending a year in a medically induced coma, and managing with just one fully functioning lung.