- GenesisCare officially opens new radiotherapy service at St Vincent’s Hospital Fitzroy to offer patients comprehensive cancer care at one location
- Ward patients will no longer need to travel by medical transport or ambulance to access radiotherapy
- This new service creates greater capacity for clinical trials
Melburnians in need of radiation therapy (also known as radiotherapy) now have the choice of immediate access at the city’s newest radiotherapy service, in partnership with St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and GenesisCare, Australia’s largest provider of radiotherapy services.
The state of the art radiation oncology facility, officially opened at a ceremony today, will seamlessly integrate services across both the Public and Private hospitals on the St Vincent’s Fitzroy campus.
GenesisCare Managing Director, Dan Collins, said the new service will enable St Vincent’s patients to access this critical service on-site, delivered with the most advanced equipment in Australia by internationally recognised experts.
“We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of radiotherapy to deliver the very best outcomes for patients, and are incredibly pleased to extend the reach of our world-class clinicians and treatments.
“More than 500 Melburnians in need of critical radiation therapy treatment are expected to receive care at this leading-edge centre over the next 12 months, increasing to more than 750 patients annually in future years,” he said.
GenesisCare is rated in the top 1 per cent of outpatient healthcare organisations in Australia , and received an outstanding patient satisfaction Net Promoter Score of +85 in the past quarter.
St Vincent’s Public Hospitals Divisional CEO, Patricia O’Rourke, welcomed the addition to the site: “This is a terrific boost to the first class cancer care currently provided at St Vincent’s, and we are delighted that our patients with multi-disciplinary treatment plans can now be managed in a single location. The new offering will make a great difference to the patient experience.
One of the centre’s first patients, referred to as Josie, said the convenience of the on-site radiotherapy treatment was invaluable: “I was so glad that I could access radiotherapy at the same location that I’d received surgery and other treatments. Knowing that all the doctors looking after me, from surgeons to the radiation specialists, all worked under the one roof and were in regular communication about my care was an enormous relief to me. I knew I was in good hands.”
A specialist design and construction team built the facility within the existing hospital over 12 months to ensure coordinated care, with minimal disruption to existing hospital services.
The now fully-operational centre provides access to affordable radiation therapy treatment services for all patients, both publicly or privately referred, and provides treatments including Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH), Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT), Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), with high-end stereotactic therapy planned for 2017.