Archived Press Releases

McKee Cancer Center expansion will offer enhanced radiation treatments

LOVELAND (July 26, 2011) – McKee Medical Center has announced plans to invest more than $9 million to expand the McKee Cancer Center with new services and technology to improve patient care.

Coupled with the physical expansion is the purchase of a new “super” linear accelerator designed to advance the treatment of brain, lung, breast, prostate, head and neck, and other types of cancer. No other cancer center in northern Colorado currently has this technology.

The addition, in conjunction with services offered at Banner’s David Walsh Cancer Center in Sterling and the Cancer Institute at North Colorado in Greeley will further Banner Health’s position as the leading provider of cancer care in northern Colorado. Construction is scheduled to begin later this summer on the expansion at 2000 Boise Ave.

The equipment – the Varian TrueBeam STx platform – redefines image-guided radiotherapy, which is the treatment of cancer using radiation therapy, and radiosurgery. Radiosurgery is the use of a very precise, targeted dose of radiation to kill a tumor or remove a lesion. This is the first fully-integrated system designed from the ground up to treat a moving target with unprecedented speed and accuracy. Some tumors can move slightly in the body depending on activity, for instance, as a person breathes.

The acquisition of this equipment also includes the Novalis Exactrac Robotic platform. This device enables advanced positioning techniques that will allow providers at McKee to use groundbreaking treatment options for tumors inaccessible in the past.
The versatility will improve conventional treatments and at the same time support the clinical development of new treatments to give patients more options for fighting their disease.

The TrueBeam breaks the boundaries of today’s radiation therapy treatment options, said Elizabeth Ceilley, MD, medical director of radiation oncology at McKee.

“It offers a system designed to target cancer with unprecedented pinpoint accuracy enabling superior control of the radiation delivery. Real innovation and excellent patient care that truly make a difference in people’s lives are the cornerstone at McKee Cancer Center,” Ceilley said.

The new technology will also allow providers to reduce the time it takes for a treatment as well as the number of treatments a person receives, said Cindy McBlair, director of the McKee Cancer Center. For example, patients who are treated with Stereotactic Radiosurgery will have a non-invasive procedure with one to five treatments instead of up to eight weeks of treatments Monday through Friday.

“Patients will spend less time at the cancer center receiving treatment and more time doing what is meaningful – living, enjoying life with family and friends,” McBlair said.

ABOUT MCKEE MEDICAL CENTER
McKee Medical Center is a fully accredited, private nonprofit facility with 132 beds. It serves as a community medical center with services including emergency, oncology, heart, orthopedics, inpatient and outpatient surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, rehabilitation, intensive care, lab and medical imaging.

ABOUT BANNER HEALTH
Based in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest, nonprofit health care systems in the country. Banner has 23 facilities that offer an array of services including hospital care, home care, hospice care, nursing registries, surgery centers, laboratories, rehabilitation services. Facilities are in seven states -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.BannerHealth.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Sara Quale
Phone: (970) 635-4031
sara.quale@bannerhealth.com