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Southlake Regional Health Centre's New Cancer Program Takes on First Radiation Therapy Patient

Experts calling new Stronach Regional Cancer Centre
 at Southlake among most leading-edge in world

Newmarket, Ontario – March 17, 2010 – The radiation therapy facility at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket – the province’s 14th radiation therapy centre – took on its first patient this week, bringing long-awaited relief to area residents.

The new, leading-edge facility is expected to serve an initial 1,200-1,500 local patients a year who would have otherwise had to travel to Toronto for treatment. Part of the soon-to-open Stronach Regional Cancer Centre at Southlake, the radiation therapy facility is a world-class radiation medicine program, complete with “top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art treatment to the highest possible level,” said Dr. Louis Balogh, Vice President, Regional Cancer Program at Southlake and Regional Vice President, Cancer Care Ontario.

The new radiation treatment centre is particularly unique, emphasized Dr. Balogh, because it is being launched in partnership with Princess Margaret Hospital – the first partnership of its kind in Ontario. “It’s rare to find an arrangement where a new centre pairs with an established, internationally-renowned cancer centre,” said Dr. Balogh.

Dr. Balogh explained that beyond the two hospitals working together to launch the new facility, the innovative partnership continues to involve ongoing joint research and meetings, and regular visits by both Southlake and Princess Margaret physicians, physicists and radiation therapists at each of the two hospitals.

Scheduled to officially open its doors in June 2010, the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre, features some of the world’s newest cancer treatment technologies.  Upon opening, the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre – part of the hospital’s $110 million Regional Cancer Program, providing services to 1.2 million York Region and south Simcoe County residents – will include three fully-equipped radiation treatment rooms (which will eventually expand to six fully-equipped rooms), a 23-chair chemotherapy unit, two multidisciplinary out-patient clinics, and designated space for clinical procedure, drug and equipment trials.

Radiation therapy, a required treatment for almost 60 per cent of cancer patients and previously only available in Toronto as the closest site to area residents, “will be a welcome addition to cancer care services in the region, particularly given the necessity for daily treatments over many weeks,” said Dr. Woodrow Wells, Head/Medical Director of Radiation Medicine at the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre.

Each of Southlake’s radiation treatment rooms is equipped with Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), both considered the most advanced radiation therapy available, Dr. Wells explained. “This sophisticated equipment will enable the health-care team to more accurately target the area requiring treatment,” he said, explaining that for patients, this translates into significantly less time for individual treatments and a reduced risk of side-effects.

For the centre’s first radiation patient, the facility’s state-of-the-art care and equipment is a source of reassurance that eases the treatment process.

“It also helps that the environment at the new centre is so tranquil and relaxing, it reminds me more of a nice hotel than a hospital,” said Newmarket resident Kelly Reevie, who began receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer on March 15 and will continue the treatment almost daily for about five weeks.

“I’m so grateful not to have to travel downtown every day for treatment, especially while not feeling well and having little energy,” she said, explaining that it would have been a strain on her family life. Thanks to the close-to-home radiation centre, Reevie – who together with her husband, Jeff, has a 12-year-old son – figures she can continue to conduct her home-based work as a medical assistant in spite of the therapy, which wouldn’t have been possible if she had to spend several hours travelling for treatment each day.

With three radiation units, hospital staff estimates that 1,200-1,500 people – or more than 400 patients per unit – will be treated annually.  The goal is to increase the number of radiation units to six by 2013 to be able to treat more than 2,400 patients each year, said Dr. Wells, adding that this would make Southlake Regional Health Centre one of the larger radiation therapy centres in North America, especially considering that most U.S. centres have fewer than six radiation machines.

“Southlake’s cancer program, with the addition of radiation therapy, is designed to ensure that patients receive the highest quality of cancer care, in a timely fashion, and as close to home as possible,” said Dr. Louis Balogh.

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