News Release

Open House at Mercy Radiation Oncology Center

Mercy Medical Center-Clinton is pleased to announce an open house for the new Radiation Oncology Center located at the North Campus at 1410 N. Fourth Street. The event will be held on Sunday, January 9, 2005 from 2:30-4:00 p.m. The public is invited to walk through the new facility and visit with the staff. This will also be an opportunity to meet Donna Oliver, the new President and CEO of Mercy Medical Center-Clinton.

Visitors to the new Radiation Oncology Center will find the environment is warm and inviting. Much thought went into designing a floor plan that allows as much privacy as possible for patients and their families. The many windows facing Fourth Street allow outside light in the waiting area as well as the dressing area. In addition, beautiful sky tiles in the hallways and over the treatment machine allow additional lighting.

Patients undergoing treatment have their own waiting area that looks out on the ‘secret garden’. Trees Forever coordinated a one-day landscape project at the Radiation Oncology Center in November. The landscaping project consisted of 227 plants, including PJM rhododendron, sugar maples, service-berry and a Japanese maple. Also planted were dwarf crimson barberry, burning bush, and junipers.

The building has 10,000 square feet with an additional 1600 square feet in the treatment vault area, which houses the linear accelerator. Our new treatment machine is a Varian 2100ex-d linear accelerator. This is a 6/15MV photon machine with 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18MeV electron capabilities.

The Varian 2100ex-d features multileaf collimation (MLC), which is used to shape the radiation beam uniquely to each patient treatment area. It uses the latest technology in digital imaging known as Portal Vision. In addition, the patients treatment record and doses of radiation will be electronically recorded using the Varis software provided by Varian Medical Systems. This electronic medical record system helps to assure the quality of each precise treatment by recording and verifying every machine setting and actual treatment delivered.

These top quality systems together will enable us to someday perform a more advanced technique called intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).

The first patients are expected to be treated at the new Radiation Oncology Center in February. Although the building process is completed and the machine has been installed, the machine needs to be commissioned. Commissioning is a complex process that the physics staff from the University of Iowa Radiation Oncology Department must complete to ensure that radiation doses from the linear accelerator are accurate.

A cancer information center is located in the Radiation Oncology Center. Cancer information will be given by experienced staff members and is accessible by phone or by visiting the Center.
The staff of the Radiation Oncology Center is dedicated to providing competent concerned care to the cancer patients who need radiation therapy. Approximately half of all patients diagnosed with cancer will require radiation therapy treatments at some time during their illness. Our new clinic expands our options and offers new treatment modalities never before provided in Clinton. This means safer and more effective cancer treatment close to home.
Visit our website at www.mercyclinton.com for more information.