PinncleHealth System said this morning it's not ready to discuss a possible cancer treatment center in Hampden Twp. in Cumberland County.
According to an unofficial sketch plan shown to the township, the center would be near the $100 million hospital Pinnacle is building next to its Fredricksen Outpatient Center and which is scheduled to open next year.
"Nothing is really final," Pinnacle spokeswoman Kelly McCall said this morning, noting that plans sometimes change or are withdrawn.
Still, a brief story about the sketch plan posted on PennLive on Wednesday was featured Thursday morning on the Pinnacle web page devoted to its cancer services. When this was pointed out to McCall, she said "that's not something I would have posted."
Hampden Twp. manager Keith Metz said on Wednesday the township was shown a "general sketch," but no copy was left with the township. He referred questions about specifics to Pinnacle.
Pinnacle's main cancer services are presently centered at the PinnacleHealth-Fox Chase Regional Cancer Center in Lower Paxton Twp. That center, as does the cancer institute at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, strives to provide the highest level of cancer care, including access to experimental treatments, so Harrisburg region residents don't have to travel to places such as Baltimore and Philadelphia. Both of those regional cancer centers opened within the past four years.
Yet much of the cancer care in the region takes place at community cancer centers owned by or affiliated with hospitals. For example, Carlisle Regional Medical Center operates a cancer treatment center next to its main hospital in South Middleton Twp. Holy Spirit Hospital provides cancer treatment through a partnership with Oakwood Cancer Center in Lower Allen Twp.
Harrisburg-based Pinnacle has stated that it considers its service area to include all of Cumberland County, as well as adjacent parts of Perry and York counties. In announcing its Hampden Twp. hospital, to be called "West Shore Hospital," Pinnacle explained that its goal is to put a Pinnacle hospital within 30 minutes of everyone in its service area, along with a family doctor within ten minutes, and outpatients services such as diagnostic services and blood labs within 20 minutes.
But McCall said the outpatient services portion of that goal referred more to services such as diagnostics than to cancer treatment.
In explaining its decision to build the West Shore Hospital, Pinnacle said there's unmet demand for hospital care in Cumberland County and nearby areas, and said the demand will grow because of the area's aging population.
Nationally, the aging population is expected to create increased demand for cancer treatment. In addition, the Affordable Care Act is expected to increase access to cancer care through measures including expanding health insurance coverage, preventing insurers from dropping cancer patients and eliminating lifetime caps on coverage.
Further, the Affordable Care Act is driving a wave of consolidation of health care providers where many providers are moving under the umbrellas of hospitals. Quality-related payment incentives, designed to encourage coordination of care, are prompting hospitals to offer the full range of medical services -- from family doctor visits to x-rays and MRIs to long-term cancer care to major surgery.
Cancer care in general has shifted to an approach based on treating cancer patients as close as possible to their home communities, rather than forcing them to travel to regional centers.
Pinnacle's West Shore Hospital, which will include an emergency room and private patient rooms, is expected to provide a more convenient option for Cumberland-area residents who want Pinnacle services but don't want to drive to Harrisburg.
Metz, the Hampden manager, said the township would welcome a cancer treatment center.
Source: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/01/cancer_treatment_center_pinnac.html
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