(FEBRUARY 6, 2024) UVM Health Network President and CEO Sunny Eappen, M.D., M.B.A., and UVMHN Radiation Oncology Chair H. James Wallace, M.D., associate professor of radiology at the Larner College of Medicine, commented to the Press-Republican about a new initiative to upgrade cancer care services at network hospitals.
UVMHN President and CEO Sunny Eappen, M.D., M.B.A. (left), and UVMHN Radiation Oncology Chair H. James Wallace, M.D., associate professor of radiology
(FEBRUARY 6, 2024) Sunny Eappen, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the UVM Health Network (UVMHN), and H. James Wallace, M.D., radiation oncology chair at the UVMHN, medical director for cancer clinical programs for the UVM Cancer Center, and associate professor of radiology at the Larner College of Medicine, commented to the (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) Press-Republican about a new initiative to replace and upgrade cancer care technologies and services at network hospitals.
The University of Vermont Health Network is partnering with Varian—a company that specializes in imaging and cancer care technologies and services—on a multiyear strategy to replace and upgrade six state-of-the-art linear accelerators at Central Vermont Medical Center, the University of Vermont Medical Center, Alice Hyde Medical Center, and Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital.
These machines are an important weapon for people requiring radiation therapy, targeting their tumors with pinpoint accuracy while preventing harm to nearby healthy tissue. They are used to treat cancers in numerous areas of the body, including brain, spine, lung, breast, esophagus, stomach, rectum, uterus, prostate, bladder, liver, and bones.
In addition to the new accelerators, a shared patient oncology care planning system and cloud-based software will be installed at the hospitals, allowing health system cancer experts to review patient treatment plans regardless of where in the network a patient receives care.
“The promise of our network lies in the goal that no matter where you live in our region, you will have access to the leading edge academic medical care we provide,” Eappen said. “I am incredibly proud of the team that worked on this plan and I know, when fully implemented, it will make a sizeable difference in the lives of the patients receiving this type of care.”
“These are exciting times for our folks in radiation oncology and for the many communities we serve,” Wallace stated. “Our patients—and their loved ones—are going to see tremendous benefits because of this investment in our teams by the University of Vermont Health Network.”
This news was also reported in the Burlington Free Press.
Read full story
at
(Plattsburgh, N.Y.) Press-Republican