PORT ANGELES — Olympic Medical Center is four months away from going live with its state-of-the-art, $2.7 million linear accelerator.
In the meantime, the seven commissioners will consider a $60,500 service contract for the current cancer-fighting machine in Sequim.
The contract will be reviewed by the Budget and Audit Committee before the board approves it Jan. 19.
“The shorter term of this contract is due to the fact that we will be decommissioning this linear accelerator as we bring in the new TrueBeam in the spring,” said Rhonda Curry, assistant administrator of Strategic Development, in Wednesday’s business meeting.
The new technology will deliver precise, high doses of radiation. OMC officials have said the TrueBeam will cut treatment times by as much as 75 percent.
“This is an exciting time for Olympic Medical Center,” Curry said.
“It is unprecedented for a rural hospital to offer such a robust cancer center with the advanced technology not even offered in the nearest urban center.”
Beginning this month, cancer treatment will move from the old linear accelerator vault to a temporary vault that was installed a month ago.
The old vault will be dismantled and rebuilt for the TrueBeam.
“In April 2011, Olympic Medical Cancer Center in Sequim is the only place in the Pacific Northwest a patient can be treated on a machine this advanced,” said Tara Lock, director of Olympic Medical Cancer Center.
Before the board approved the purchase in September, OMC officials said the difference between the 8-year-old linear accelerator and the Varian TrueBeam is like the difference between 35mm film and a digital camera.
The TrueBeam can treat cancer of the lung, breast, prostate, head and neck, as well as other cancers treatable with radiotherapy.
“This linear accelerator offers a broad spectrum of new capabilities, enabling us to treat even the most challenging cancer cases with unprecedented speed and precision,” said Dr. Rena Zimmerman, medical director of radiation oncology.
The machine’s gated radiotherapy compensates for a patient’s breathing as it rotates around.
“This helps us treat lung cancer but will greatly enhance our ability to treat breast cancer — the leading cause of cancer death in Clallam County — and we expect this to make a meaningful difference for breast cancer patients in our area,” Zimmerman said.
“We can treat the tumor as if the patient were not breathing.”
Early in the business meeting, Port Angeles School District Superintendent Jane Pryne pitched a levy that voters will consider Feb. 8.
Commissioners will likely adopt a resolution in support of levy at their next meeting Jan. 19.
In other news, Commissioner Jim Cammack was appointed chairman of the board for 2011.
Dr. Scott Kennedy, chief medical officer, and Cammack thanked former Chairman John Beitzel for his leadership.
“I’ve been very, very pleased to work with this board,” Beitzel said.
“It’s been easy to do. . . . We do pretty important things here.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
