Contact: Susan Brandt, 434.200.4731
Centra dedicated its new Centra Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center on Tuesday in a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the center, which brings a comprehensive array of cancer services under one roof.
“This center represents 75,000-square-feet of hope for the thousands of patients who will come through these doors seeking treatment and healing,” said George W. Dawson, Centra president and CEO. “The Centra Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center stands as a visible symbol of our commitment to provide quality care to our region.”
Tom Jividen, Centra executive vice president, said: “Everything in this building was designed with our cancer patients and their families and friends in mind.”
The two-story regional outpatient center combines radiation and medical oncology in a new center of hope and healing. A team of board-certified physicians and highly-skilled clinicians collaborates on personalized treatment plans for patients and supports them through every step of their cancer journeys. In addition to radiation oncologists and medical oncologists, the multidisciplinary team includes a broad range of expertise from nurse practitioners and nurses to clinical trials, patient navigator, social worker and chaplaincy staff. The team offers radiation therapy and support services on the first floor of the center and medical oncology and chemotherapy on the second floor.
With two linear accelerators, including the new high-powered Trilogy system, the center offers patients the latest cancer-fighting technology. This technology is designed to treat many types of tumors and brings physicians extraordinary versatility and precision for customizing treatments to each patient’s needs. Linear accelerators deliver external beam radiation to destroy tumors and kill cancer cells so they can no longer reproduce. Trilogy’s ultra-precise robotics accurately track and adjust for tumor movements as the patient breathes to further help protect healthy organs and tissues. The Trilogy also allows stereotactic approaches for treating very small tumors quickly and precisely. The radiation beam conforms to match the three-dimensional shape and contours of the tumor, and a robotic imager device helps deliver fast, accurate, real-time tumor tracking. With accurate tracking, physicians can deliver powerful radiation to tumors while more precisely sparing healthy tissue. For patients, this means the potential for better outcomes, fewer side effects, faster treatments and greater comfort.
Special touches and services abound throughout the center. A boutique offers cancer patients personalized, spa-like services and products specifically-designed for cancer patients undergoing surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Treatment rooms are bathed in sunshine and offer views of a specially-landscaped healing garden with garden paths, a sculpture, a brook and a pond. The center’s main lobby features a sitting area with a fireplace that encourages conversation. Patients can do research in the resource library and visit with the chaplain or talk with the clinical trials coordinator about new studies. Regional artwork, purchased through the gift of an anonymous donor, is featured throughout to offer a home-like, healing environment.
Dawson said the cancer center would not have been possible without the financial support from the region. Donors contributed more than $12.5 million for the cancer center and East Tower at Centra Lynchburg General Hospital, which opened in November with 108 private rooms.
“As we move forward with our cancer care services in this new center, we are building on a strong foundation,” Dawson said, noting that Centra has earned national recognition with a full accreditation with commendation for its cancer services from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. “Cancer touches entire families. The Centra Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer center is about the people it will serve. They are our families, our friends and our neighbors. They are the sole purpose for Centra and they are the sole purpose for this building.”
