Right now, there are only five places in the U.S. where cancer patients can get highly accurate proton therapy to zap their disease. But, in the next two or three years, South Florida could have two proton therapy centers. Proton therapy uses advanced physics and promises to be the gold standard for eradicating tumors while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. But the price tag for the machines is off the charts. Bloomington, Ind.-based ProCure Treatment Centers is looking for a site in Boca Raton or northern Broward County to build a proton therapy center that would cost more than $130 million. It would employ about 100 people at an average salary of $80,000, said Chris Chandler, ProCure senior VP of clinical partnerships. Meanwhile, public hospital system Broward Health has contracted for $13.5 million to buy a next-generation proton therapy machine that is under development. It would cost about $5 million to construct a facility for it at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, said Joseph Rogers, Broward Health’s senior VP of business development. One of the few physicians in South Florida who have had any experience handling proton beams is Dr. Anurag Agarwal, chief of radiation oncology for Broward Health. He is also CEO of HealX Oncology, the group of radiation oncologists that is partnering with the public system to boost its cancer-fighting arsenal. He treated patients with proton therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
Please click on the link below to read the South Florida Business Journal article:
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2008/07/28/daily24.html?f=et81&ana=e_du
For more information on defending medical malpractice and nursing home matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at The Citron Law Firm, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.
