The PET/CT will bring much-needed technology to the South Coast region, further advancing diagnostic and treatment capabilities for cancer, heart disease and brain disorders.
| For Immediate Release | Contact: Joyce Faria Brennan |
| November 3, 2005 | 508-961-5270 |
| brennanj@southcoast.org | |
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FALL RIVER, Mass. — Southcoast Hospitals Group has received approval from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to provide Positron Emission Tomography (PET) services through acquisition of a mobile PET/CT body scanner.
The PET/CT will bring much-needed technology to the South Coast region, further advancing diagnostic and treatment capabilities for cancer, heart disease and brain disorders. The unit is set to arrive in 2006 and will travel between Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham. Southcoast will be the only provider of PET imaging services in the Greater New Bedford and Greater Wareham regions.
"With the added benefit of PET/CT scanning we will have complete advanced imaging capabilities for Southcoast patients," said Nicholas Spencer, MD, Chairman of Radiology Imaging Services at St. Luke's Hospital.
The combination of PET and CT, or Computed Tomography, provides the physician with a more accurate diagnostic assessment.
"The PET scan shows the metabolic activity of cancer while the CT scan indicates the precise location of cancer in the body," said John Lentini, MD, Chairman of Radiology at Charlton Memorial Hospital.
"The primary role of PET/CT is for cancer detection and monitoring and to show how well therapy is working. Other potential roles of PET/CT are brain and heart imaging."
The PET/CT mobile unit will broaden access to all of the communities served by Southcoast Hospitals Group.
The mobile capability is also more cost-effective since no renovations or new construction will be required at any of the sites. The unit costs about $3.5 million.
The need for the PET/CT was established by the Southcoast Hospitals Group PET Task Force. The task force researched the overall demand and local access of the service. It was found that due to a high incidence of cancer and heart disease in the region, many patients were traveling out of the area for the scan. Ellen Banach, Vice President of Strategic Services, said the demand for the service is expected to increase as more local physicians become comfortable with the technology.
"It is Southcoast's mission to keep services local so that patients do not have to travel for quality care and advanced services," Banach said. "We find that local patients who are referred out of the area for services often found it difficult to arrange for transportation."
The incidence of cancer and heart disease is also significantly higher in the South Coast region than the state and national averages. The region ranks 10.8 percent higher than the state average and 21.8 percent than the national average for overall cancers. The Wareham community served by Tobey Hospital is particularly noteworthy at 30.3 percent higher than the state average and 50.6 percent higher than the national average.
"There is no one answer or fix-all for the high rates of cancer and heart disease in our region," Banach said. "We are able to identify risk factors such as obesity, sedentary lifestyles, aging population, diabetes, dietary habits and smoking as possible causes. We have been able to build greater awareness through our community benefits and screening programs, and this increased diagnostic capability will certainly help."
About Southcoast
Southcoast Health System, a not-for-profit charitable organization, is a community based health delivery system with multiple access points, offering an integrated continuum of health services throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and East Bay, Rhode Island. It includes Southcoast Hospitals Group, formed in 1996 from the merger of Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke's Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.
Southcoast is one of three community hospitals approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to perform open heart surgery and primary angioplasty beginning in Spring 2002.
Media Contact
Joyce Faria Brennan
Phone: 508-961-5270
Pager: 508-387-9605
Fax: 508-961-5876
brennanj@southcoast.org
